


This Too Shall Change

by starscrearn



Category: Transformers: Prime
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Developing Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Abuse, M/M, Slow Burn, eventual character redemption
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-10
Updated: 2018-07-14
Packaged: 2019-01-15 19:32:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 28,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12327399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starscrearn/pseuds/starscrearn
Summary: It's no secret that Starscream is really good at making truly awful mistakes and really bad at keeping his mouth shut. No one knows this better than Knock Out, mostly because he's left fixing the damage.6/29/18 update:chapters 1-8 have been edited and reuploaded!





	1. From the Shadows

_ “You… are-- you’re healed! Praise the Allspark, it’s a miracle!” _

_ Megatron’s grey chassis loomed into view, entirely too familiar from such a low angle. “Oh, it will be a miracle all right, Starscream… if you survive what I have planned for you!” _

_ The pain was immense, the fear even more so as Megatron threw him down the length of the Nemesis. His clawed fingertips scored the unyielding metal as he scrabbled for purchase, finally finding it along the downward slope of the ship’s wing. _

_ The warlord stalked towards him. “My greatest mistake? I’ve made a few. But there is one I do not intend to make again!” _

_ A large servo clamped down over his helm and lifted him. _

_ “No, Master! No-o-o--!” _

=========

Starscream’s optics abruptly onlined, jolting him out of a fitful recharge. He wasn't locked down to the medical berth, but he might as well have been for all he could move without something hurting. All he could hear was the gentle whirring of the half a dozen or so large cables hooked into his frame and the raspy cycling of his own vents.

And those damnable footsteps.

Perhaps it was Knock Out, come to check on him again.

"Resting comfortably, Starscream?"

He almost choked. Definitely not Knock Out.

Megatron continued. "Despite the extent of your injuries, my medical staff assures me you shall make a rapid recovery."

Starscream heaved himself up to meet his lord's baleful optics. "Hopefully every bit as rapid as your wrath is swift," he rasped out.

He laughed, deep and ugly, and rested a clawed hand on Starscream's chest, brushing against one of the attached cables. "And how swiftly things change. To think that but a short time ago, it was  _ you _ who was standing here while  _ I _ was lying there, right after your failed attempt to terminate me."

A thumb rubbed over the lip of the cable and Starscream flinched away. "I would  _ never--” _

Megatron's hand shot up and clamped down over his neck, shutting him up. "But know this,  _ dear _ Starscream, our positions shall never again be reversed."

A slight squeeze ensured silence until he left.

The jet growled and tore off the cables, ignoring the pain and the frenzied beeping the machines next to him let out at the disconnect. He hauled himself off of the berth, hissed as his left leg nearly gave out, and dragged himself out of the room.

He was grateful for the automatic door; he was less grateful for Knock Out’s presence right outside of it. He felt a patch of welds his chestplates pull sharply as he turned and he instinctively clamped a hand over them-- right in front of Knock Out.

The grounder almost dropped his datapad. “Starscream, h-- have you lost your senses?” he yelped, voice shooting up nearly an octave at the end. “You haven’t fully recuperated!”

Starscream drew himself up, straining the wires around his back strut, and guided his limp leg behind him. “I feel fine, Knock Out,” he spat. “Never better. You’re a brilliant physician, now get out of my  _ way!” _

He tried to shove Knock Out back and met a bit more resistance than he expected; nevertheless, the medic moved. That is, moved to restrain him.

Knock Out slipped a hand under his elbow and gave it a little squeeze, firm but gentle. “As your physician, I’m ordering you to get some rest.”

He tugged his arm back. “And as your commander, I’m ordering you to get out of my way!”

The demand would have been a lot more impressive if the weakened joint in his leg hadn’t given out at that exact moment, dropping him to the ground at Knock Out’s feet. Even less impressive was the fact that Knock Out  _ still had a hold of his arm, _ leaving him dangling off the grounder. Starscream felt his one functional fan kick into high gear as Knock Out laid a servo on his waist and set him upright.

The grounder heaved a theatrical sigh. “I tried to tell you. I’m sure I don’t need to remind you that you’ve sustained a truly remarkable amount of damage. I haven’t had time to address it all, much less deal with your… er, cosmetic issues.”

Starscream felt something like shame burn through him, hot and familiar, and tried to play it off. “If I didn’t know better, Doctor, I’d say you were enjoying this.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I  _ always _ appreciate the chance to display my skills,” Knock Out replied, turning him and guiding him back through the same automatic door he felt he’d been staring at for weeks now. “But what I appreciate more is not having to repair the same damage over and over because a stubborn mech won’t listen to their physician… Commander.”

The words left him before he fully processed them. “Then what would you recommend?”

Knock Out tipped his helm and smiled, slow and lazy. “Why, that you hop right back into that berth and stay there this time! Do I have to read you the full diagnostic for you to get it?”

Starscream glowered.

Another sigh. “Have it your way. Abrasions to the entirety of the mesh; one busted optic, partially repaired but still flickering; right wing partially dislocated; left winglet torn; right arm completely dislocated, now fixed; plating on left forearm cracked; damage to struts along--”

“Yes, fine, I understand!” He nearly threw himself back onto that accursed medical berth, if only to shut Knock Out up. Not tallied were the numerous internal injuries and the extensive damage to both legs-- but they both knew that. Every movement still hurt, and only a fool would have missed it.

Knock Out was no fool.  _ “Thank _ you. If you sit still and stay there, I’ll hook in something to dull all that pain for you.”

“You’re too kind,” he shot back acerbically.

“Watch it,” he snipped, but there was no real malice in it. He hooked a shot of something faintly glimmering into the line he reattached to the jet’s arm and pressed the plunger. “‘Too kind’ would be if I decided to buff out some of those scrapes for you once this stuff puts you under.”

“What--”

The medic shrugged. “Should be kicking in right about now. Soon you won’t be feeling anything.”

“Knock Out!”

“Ah, thank me later.”

He stood there in contemplation for a moment as the dose took hold, dragging Starscream under. The Seeker’s narrow facial plates were still held tight in pain, but even as he watched, they began to relax under the influence of the painkillers working through his system. If it weren’t for the damage to his frame, he might have actually looked peaceful.

Knock Out sighed and shook himself, rattling his shoulder fins. “Let’s see if we can’t get you looking like an air commander again.”

It took him a few hours, but by the time Starscream started to come round, Knock Out had both wings and winglets back in place and back to their original shine. Scratches had been filled in and dents repaired. When Starscream finally made his way back into hazy consciousness, Knock Out had his back to him and a buffer in those remarkably steady hands. 

He immediately offlined his optics again. There was nothing wrong with remaining in the medibay just a  _ little _ longer.

The gentle whine of the buffer grated on his sensors, especially when added to the buzz it produced when it first touched his plating, but he quickly became accustomed to it. When Knock Out reached his knee, he’d almost drifted back offline, but the doctor’s voice jerked him back.

“Feeling better, Commander?”

In a very literal knee-jerk reaction, the leg Knock Out was buffing shot up, nearly smacking him in the face.

The medic yelped and ducked away, nearly dropping the buffer. “Hey! Watch the finish!”

He laughed nervously and lowered his leg. “My apologies, Doctor. Yes, I… am indeed feeling better. Er, thank you.”

“Thank me once I’ve finished your legs. They really took a beating.” He paused, guiding the buffer over another patch of scrapes on the jet’s thigh. “What did he want earlier?”

Starscream dropped his helm back against the berth with a muffled thump. “To gloat, what else?”

_ As if you’re a stranger to that _ , Knock Out thought with a tinge of irritation. He shook it off; the mech didn’t deserve that right now. “Hmm. Enough pressure?”

“What? Yes, it’s fine.”

The edge of the buffer bumped against his knee and a shudder ran over his frame, causing various bits of plating that hadn’t been fully re-welded to clink together. Knock Out pulled the buffer back and Starscream nearly screamed.

The medic tipped his helm. “Too much?”

“No, no, by all means, please… continue.”

Knock Out kept on in silence for a time until…

Starscream pushed himself up onto his elbows. “What?”

“I said, I need to move your leg. Try not to kick me in the face again.”

The jet kept his mouth shut as Knock Out slipped a hand under his calf and carefully shifted it so that his heel strut once again rested against the platform at the base of the medberth.

“Feel like sticking around for a bit more monitoring?” Knock Out threw him a winning smile. “I’ll even buff the other one for you.”

“I… suppose I have nowhere better to be,” Starscream replied after a delay just a fraction too short to be considered truly casual. “You may carry on.”

=========

When Knock Out finally allowed him to leave the medbay-- with the “request” that he rest, and come back for another diagnostic in the morning, and-- Starscream felt a bit more like a Decepticon commander, and he certainly looked it. There was a fair bit more detailing to be done, but he no longer looked like a piece of scrap metal that had been backed over several times by a semi.

And he would  _ never _ allow that to happen again.

Starscream allowed himself a small smile as he retrieved the shard of dark energon he’d plucked from Megatron’s lifeless shell. “We’ll see who’s powerless soon enough,” he muttered.  _ “Master…” _

=========

The jet swore long and quietly as he dragged his battered frame back to the darkened medibay, clutching the wreckage of his severed arm. Perhaps Knock Out had been right. Perhaps it would have been better to rest. But what better time to strike against Megatron than when the warlord believed him to be completely cowed with fear and weakened nearly beyond repair? His damaged leg let out a groan of protest as he shifted his weight onto it, as if crying out that  _ any _ other time would have been a better one. He cursed it too, and the wretched Prime again, just for good measure.

Anger was the only thing keeping him upright by the time he managed to drag himself to the medibay, and even that was failing as the pain ate away at him. The floor looked far too inviting.

Knock Out glanced up when he caught the sound of the door swishing open. “Aww, miss me alrea--” He lurched to his feet. “What in Primus’ name happened?”

Starscream sagged against the doorframe, remaining servo still clenched around what was left of his other arm. Knock Out could see energon faintly welling between his fingers.

“Well, don’t just stand there gaping!” Starscream snapped. “I require your assistance.”

He was already moving forward to meet him in the middle of the room. “Uh, Starscream, I don't quite understand how this could have happened.” 

“And yet, it did! Can you imagine my horror? There I am, minding my own business, when my arm just falls off!” 

Knock Out lifted one elegant optical ridge in clear disbelief. 

New tactic. Starscream sighed and winced, twisting himself sightly to the side and pretending to be in even more pain than he actually was. “I fear our Lord may have…” His weakened knee began to tremble irritatingly. He swiftly locked the joint to keep it from giving out on him again and bit down on the resulting pained whimper. “--Inflicted more damage than we realized, Doctor.”

Was he being played? More than likely. Did Knock Out still pity the foolhardy mech? ...Yes. He sighed and guided him back to a medical berth.

“Well, uh, to be honest with you, Starscream, I’m not sure I have another one laying around.”

“What are you saying?” he snapped. “You can’t replace this?” He pulled his hand away to gesture at what was left of his arm; the movement broke the seals that had started to build up, causing a fresh flow of energon to trickle down his plating.

“Starscream, your equipment is a bit… uh, obsolete.” He laid what he hoped would be interpreted as a comforting servo on the Seeker’s arm and felt it stiffen at the touch. “Of course I can replace it, I’m just not sure I have anything to replace it  _ with, _ unless you’ve got a spare.”

The jet growled. “There must be one in storage. Meg--” He bit his glossa; no good would come of blurting out one of…  _ his _ old threats. “There must be.”

“Alright. I’ll stabilize this--” Knock Out hooked a cable to his shoulder. “And see what I can find. Though if I were you, I’d take a look at a few new models, just in case.” He reached for the welder and went to work pinching off broken lines. “Tell me the truth, did Megatron do this?”

Starscream turned his helm away. “I would rather not discuss it.”

Knock Out sighed. “Suit yourself. Now hold still.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **5/29/18 update:** chapter has been edited and reuploaded for better consistency. enjoy!


	2. Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Starscream was not having a pleasant time of things. There was nothing like discovering that Megatron did indeed keep spare parts on hand, just in case he finally decided to dismantle the jet and wanted to have the option of doing it over again and having someone fix all the rest of that damage. It was better to finally,  _ finally _ look like a proper air commander again… but not when it was just in time to be treated like some common drone.

He hissed, irritably tapping a digit against the screen of his datapad to confirm a series of orders, and groaned as the next batch came through. That newcomer Airachnid had made short work of crawling to the top of the pile, using him as a stepping stone, no less! Oh, she would pay for that… in due time. He was determined not to land himself in the medibay in pain and disgrace for a long while… no matter how much of a pleasant change he found Knock Out’s company.

His comm crackled to life, interrupting his train of thought. “Starscream!”

The Seeker flinched despite himself and forced his voice to stabilize before answering. “Yes, Lord Megatron?”

"Meet me at the groundbridge-- immediately.”

“Of course, my lord.”

The link clicked off. He quietly cycled his vents and headed off, heel struts clacking against the metal flooring of the Nemesis. Primus, had that always been so  _ loud? _ He sped up to avoid it.

He was unaware just how quickly he was moving until he passed by the medibay.

“Training for a marathon, Starscream?”

Starscream stopped so abruptly at the unexpected voice that his pedes actually screeched against the floor, causing little sparks as metal struck metal. “What?”

“Training for a marathon?” Knock Out repeated. “Or are you just out for a jog?”

“Neither,” he snapped, drawing himself up with a rattle of wings. “When Lord Megatron calls… I go.”

Knock Out’s optics widened. “Really? What did he want?”

“He did not say, and I did not think it prudent to ask.”

“Mm. Well, good luck, I suppose.”

“I don’t believe in luck.”

=========

As soon as Starscream was around the corner, Knock Out turned and tapped a button on his data pad, calling up Soundwave. The silent mech’s visage appeared, helm tilted to the side in question.

“Good morning, Soundwave. Uh… it has come to my attention that Megatron intends to bridge out with Starscream. Are just the two of them going?”

Soundwave dipped his helm in confirmation.

“As the ship’s medic, I would like to be informed first if Starscream requests a bridge back alone.”

He was expecting to have to justify the request, but Soundwave just gave him another single nod and terminated the communication with his usual casual precision.

The jet might not have believed in luck, but Knock Out didn’t believe in taking unnecessary chances. He began to prep the medibay.

=========

Starscream found himself fidgeting like a newframe as he and Megatron emerged from the groundbridge in front of a cave. The fidgeting worsened to trembling as the jet recognized it as an abandoned energon mine.

“Uh,” he began eloquently. “Lord Megatron, far be it from me to question your intentions, but I do not understand why we've returned here after all this time… alone."

Megatron walked away from him, into the mine. Instinctively, Starscream raised a hand after him, silently cursed himself, and forced it back down.

“Uh… every last trace of energon was extracted from this mine.” He hung back by the entrance. “There's nothing left.”

Finally, the warlord glanced back at him. “Indulge me, Starscream, won't you?”

Starscream stepped in after him when Megatron turned away, still lagging far behind him. His optics darted around, trying to take in every aspect of the cave at once, and almost without realizing it, he adopted a defensive position-- shoulders up, wings held close to his back, arms tucked near to his body. For a time, the only sounds were their footsteps and the quiet clicking of Starscream’s winglets against his back.

Only when they “stumbled” upon three drills in a main cavern did Megatron stop. “How intriguing.”

Starscream couldn’t stop a panicked laugh from slipping out, one he immediately tried to cover with a growl. “Incompetent fools!” He stalked forward towards the drills. “This mining equipment should have been relocated. Why is it still here?”

Megatron’s voice came from right behind him and he flinched. “A most valid question.”

His fans cycled hard, sucking in a sharp breath. “My apologies, Master. I believe Soundwave was in charge of coordinating transport.”

Megatron growled, low and quiet, optics narrowing.

A nervous laugh. “B-but in fairness--” He edged back. “--during your interstellar travels, we all had to assume additional responsibilities. Clearly, mistakes were made.”

“Yes. Clearly.” Megatron rammed a fist into the cave wall and Starscream nearly jumped out of his plating. The warlord twisted his hand and yanked out a chunk of energon larger than his helm. Starscream’s optics widened and he took a few more steps back.

Megatron glanced from the crystal to the jet. “Every last trace of energon extracted?”

“My lord, I can explain--”

“Explain  _ what? _ That you've been hoarding a supply of energon for your personal use?” He let the crystal fall from his servo.

“No! Not exactly. You see, I--”

Megatron slammed a foot down on the crystal, crushing it into powder. “Do not take me for a fool, Starscream!”

He flinched, wings trembling in panic. “Wh-- I-- I--”

The big mech advanced, pace measured and even. He seemed unbothered by the cave’s uneven ground. “I have been wise to your transgressions from the beginning. Not only did you pluck the dark energon from my chest in a failed attempt to snuff my spark, but you tried to raise your own undead warrior with it. It's no secret that you lost an arm in the process, which you've since had replaced.”

Starscream scuttled back like a bird fleeing a cat. “You knew about that?”

“Soundwave is quite competent at surveillance, I can assure you. The fact is, Starscream, despite your treachery, I've allowed you to carry on this long because I took a certain delight in following your string of failures.” Megatron smirked, slowly backing him into the center of the cavern. “But you've finally become tiresome, predictable.” He swung his fusion cannon up and trained it on Starscream’s helm. “You've hit  _ rock bottom.” _

He heard the all-too-familiar sound of the blaster powering up and instinctively crashed to his knees, letting out a thin whimper. So this was how his lights were going to go out, in a cave, on this thrice-cursed planet, surrounded by his mistakes. “Master, please!” Trembling hands fluttered in front of Megatron’s, not quite touching it. “Give me one more chance, I beg of you!”

He couldn’t find a single hint of pity in Megatron’s optics. Their hardness suggested it had been gone even longer than he’d thought. “You have ceased to be of use to me, Starscream. So you shall simply cease to be.”

The commander braced himself. He could hear his plating gently clinking together in time with his trembling. His vents had gone ragged and his optics were painfully damp with cleanser. He gritted his denta and fought down a sob.

The cannon took a final moment to charge. Starscream offlined his optics. He didn’t want to watch his own death heading towards him. 

He felt the heat of the blaster move away from his facial plates. He lifted his helm and clicked his optics open, searching for the source of the reprieve, painfully aware that Megatron might have just wanted him to watch.

But… what was a human doing here?

A blue pede moved out from behind the wall. He followed it up and found it attached to an Autobot. Human and bot stared back at Megatron and his soon-to-be-executed second in command, the latter still on his knees, hands raised protectively. Starscream’s optics met the Autobot’s, and he knew she understood exactly what was going on. For a moment, shame battled with terror. Terror won.

Megatron growled, swung his cannon around to bear on Arcee, and fired.

The second she shot back, Starscream fled.

“Starscream, you dare abandon me?” Megatron bellowed.

A bolt of energy struck the ground directly behind him, blowing him off his feet. He regained his balance just long enough to lurch into a transformation and sped off down the tunnel, dodging shots and the bits of rock they dislodged. Soon the whole place was coming down around him.

If there was one thing Starscream could do well, it was fly. He could see daylight amid the falling rubble, and--

His sensors registered pain. He’d been hit.

He forced a last bit of speed from his straining engines.

More debris cracked down against him, knocking him off course. He could still make it. He could still see daylight.

And then he couldn’t.

Pummeled by falling rocks, his frame shuddered and he collapsed, losing control of his alt-mode. One servo stretched towards where he knew the exit had been seconds before.

_ “No--!” _

=========

Starscream clawed his way to the surface and coughed, clearing dust from his fans. He drew himself up and laughed. “Predictable, Master? Is that what you called me? Well, now who has hit  _ rock bottom? _ What's that?” He leaned forward towards the rock-strewn exit, cupping a hand around his audial. “I'm sorry-- I can't hear you beneath all that rubble!” He laughed again and made a deep, mocking bow. “Farewell, Lord Megatron! May you rest in peace.”

He almost called for a groundbridge when a thought struck him. His shoulders shot back up.

“But… you  _ have  _ survived far worse. If you managed to free yourself, you would blame me for your setback…” He hunched in on himself, wrapping an arm around his battered torso. “And there is nowhere that I could possibly escape from your growing wrath. But… if I return and take rightful credit for your rescue… you might be forced to reconsider.” Even as he said it, he knew it was unlikely. The jet tipped his helm back and howled his frustration to the sky.  _ “Megatron!” _

=========

It took far longer than he would have liked, but he finally managed to dig his way back through the fallen rubble to the cavern his sensors had pinpointed.

He thrust an arm through the space he’d created and heaved himself through. “Put any doubt of my allegiance to rest!"

It… was not Megatron.

It was Bulkhead, holding up the ceiling as his little human vermin scampered around his feet. Starscream growled in irritation, low in his throat. He didn’t have time for this! But his wings cramped at the mere thought of forcing himself back through that gap and he wouldn’t--  _ couldn’t-- _ be seen as retreating for a second time that day. Playing it off was his only option.

He smirked. “My, you do have your hands full, don’t you, Autobot?”

“Starscream, don’t push me!”

The smirk grew as he stepped closer to Bulkhead and leaned down to look at the human. He started to laugh, but Bulkhead lashed out at him, connecting directly with his chestplates and tossing him onto his aft across the cavern.

Starscream hissed in pain as his sensors flashed a warning at him. “That’s it, Autobot-- I will--”

Bulkhead snorted. “What? You'll what? Make me bring down the ceiling on top of all of us? Run, Miko!”

“Yes! Run, Miko. I would love to see you try. Really, I would.”

He was aware of a tiny warning hum before a drill bit broke through the wall beside him, nearly knocking into him as he dove out of the way. In the confusion, Bulkhead’s human was removed, and the drill retreated, which suited the Seeker just fine.

He pulled himself up, eyed the gap in the rubble as a potential escape path, and chuckled. “And then there were two.”

The Autobot glared. “If you think I'm gonna beg for mercy, Screamer, forget it.”

That pulled him up short. “Ah. Yes. Begging for mercy would be quite…  _ pathetic, _ wouldn't it?” he spat. The irony of it was not lost on him, and he covered his embarrassment with gloating. “Well, you're much more valuable to me alive.” He hooked a digit under Bulkhead’s jaw and lifted his helm. “Imagine Megatron's appreciation when I not only rescue him but deliver an Autobot. I believe that would restore my stature quite nicely, don’t you think?”

For the second time that day he heard a weapon powering up behind him and instinctively froze. He knew Bulkhead could read the fear that flitted across his face and cursed himself for it.

It was another Autobot.  _ “Don’t _ move, Starscream.” She leaned around him. “Hey, Bulk.”

“Hey, ‘Cee.”

Starscream glanced frantically around, looking for a way,  _ any _ way, out of this mess. He found none. He could probably blast his way out if it came to that, but…

Arcee lifted her blasters to his facial plates. “Raise your hands.”

His optics met hers and he knew exactly what she wanted of him. He almost wanted to commend her. It was something Megatron would have done. A shudder ran over his frame, causing his winglets to click against his wings. “Aww…”

The second the full weight of the rock ceiling fell onto him, his sensors started screaming. He gritted his denta and pushed back. This was  _ not _ going to be the way his lights went out! The Autobots had barely gotten out when the weight of the rock above forced him onto one knee. Starscream felt a servo slip and the rock cracked painfully down against his neck. Once again, he searched for a way out.

It took him a moment to fully process what he was seeing. For the first time, his spark leapt in joy at the sight of Megatron.

“Master! You're alive! Thank the Allspark!” No response; Starscream pressed on. “I… I did not abandon you, Master. I returned-- to save you!”

The tyrant tipped his helm to the side with an almost pensive look. “Save me?”

With growing desperation, Starscream tried to shift the weight on his servos so he could turn to look at his master. Metal screeched sharply, but he managed to wrench himself around. “Look into my spark, Lord Megatron! My intentions were true. Please, have mercy!”

Megatron smirked and rose. “If you can find your way out of this, Starscream, I might even consider not killing you the next time I see you.”

The Seeker’s optics shot wide as panic set in. “Master,  _ please! _ Help me!”

But Megatron was gone, and he was speaking to empty air. He eyed the way the warlord had left. If he was lucky, and very fast, he might be able to get through before the ceiling crushed him… 

Something creaked above him and his elbow nearly collapsed at the increased pressure. If he stayed, he’d certainly die. In what could very well have been his final moments, he found his thoughts turning to the other Decepticons. Would any of them have tried to save him? Soundwave was indifferent to most things, Airachnid would almost certainly have killed him on principle alone, Breakdown was no friend, and Knock Out…

No. Knock Out wouldn’t have stayed behind. Of that, he was quite sure. The thought saddened him more than he expected it to.

With one final burst of strength, he managed to shove the ceiling up enough to allow him to stand mostly upright. For possibly the last time, he transformed and shot towards the only way out. His wings clipped the walls, setting off his sensors as he nearly sheared the tips off. He ignored it, forcing himself onwards as pain raked over his frame. The last of the cave was coming down. Through damaged sensors lit up with errors, he spotted an exit.

The Seeker’s engines whined as he forced the last of his energy to them; at that point he was running mostly on fear and desperation. He burst out of the cave.

And immediately bounced off of the dirt and collapsed, dropping out of his alt-mode in the process. He held up a servo and found it shaking. His helm dropped back into the dust as he activated his comm link.

“This is--” He stopped to cough. “--Commander Starscream… requesting immediate groundbridge… from my coordinates…”

He was met with an audial full of static and felt a wail of desperation bubbling up. He bit down on it, hard. “This is Commander… Starscream…”

He trailed off. Was there a point to this? A grounded Seeker-- he might have laughed at the irony any other day. His optics dimmed.

A groundbridge opened in front of him and a shape stepped out. The jet barely registered it.

The mech swore. “Someone did a number on you, didn’t they? Can you stand?”

Starscream forced his optics back online. “Knock… Out?”

“In the mesh. Can you stand?”

He gave it a shot. He managed to push himself up only a little before some part of him creaked alarmingly and his elbow gave out. Starscream felt his helm fall onto yielding metal instead of onto the ground. Knock Out had caught him.

“Alright, easy. Don’t strain yourself. Let me help you.” The grounder knelt and slipped his hands under Starscream’s shoulders. He eased the jet up as Starscream scrambled to get his feet back under him.

“There, that’s it.” Knock Out got him upright and looped Starscream’s arm around his shoulders, keeping a hand securely at his waist. “Just lean on me. We’re almost there.”

He rebooted his vocalizer twice before it would cooperate. “Who’s operating…”

“The groundbridge? Soundwave.”

Starscream stopped, colliding with Knock Out. He’d been humiliated enough for one day without having his inglorious return to the Nemesis memorialized for all eternity,  _ thank you very much. _

Knock Out’s calm voice roused him. “I don’t have a medkit with me. I didn’t have a chance to grab one. But it’s only a short walk to the medibay.”

Reluctantly, he began to move again and one of the joints in his knee groaned ominously. Knock Out shifted under his arm, taking more of the Seeker’s weight on his shoulders. Together they made their way through the bridge, Starscream leaning a little more on Knock Out with each step.

“My leg--”

“I know,” Knock Out soothed. “We’re almost there.”

And a good thing, too; the groundbridge had barely closed behind them when Starscream’s leg failed him entirely. He bit down on a moan and prayed that Soundwave would leave. The silent mech nodded to Knock Out and walked out with his usual measured pace.

The second he was gone the Seeker all but collapsed against Knock Out, who staggered under the sudden addition of weight.

“Hey--!” The incoming tirade stopped when he realized Starscream was barely online. He sighed, shifted his grip, and hauled the slender mech up into his arms.

_ That _ got his attention. “Put me down!” he rasped out.

“And what, let your leg and Primus knows what else give out on the way to the medibay?” Knock Out snorted. “Not happening.”

“This is undignified!”

He rolled his optics. “No, it’s ridiculous. Starscream, you can’t  _ walk.” _ His tone softened. “I told you to let me help you. So let me.”

Starscream’s vents cycled in a loud sigh. “Fine.”

With that settled, it seemed the burst of energy was over. Starscream’s helm sagged against the front of Knock Out’s shoulder, bouncing off it gently with each step.

“Megatron did this, didn’t he.”

It took the jet a moment to answer. “Not directly.”

“What happened?”

“He  _ left _ me.” It came out as more of a quiet wail than the indignant vocalization it was supposed to be.

“I’m sorry.” To Knock Out’s surprise, he found he actually was.

The grounder was laying him in a medical berth before either one of them spoke again.

Starscream let his helm tip towards Knock Out as he rasped out, “Thank you for coming.”

Knock Out laid a hand on his arm. “Rest, Commander. I’ll have you good as new in no time.”

He hooked in a fuel line and pressed a dose of painkiller into it. Starscream almost missed what he said next as he drifted off.

“And you’re welcome."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Full disclosure, I accidentally spelled it "Starscrem" in the middle of his almost-death scene and had to stop writing for a while because I was laughing too hard.
> 
> I'm on twitter as @starscrearn if you're interested in fic updates!
> 
> **5/29/18 update:** edited and reuploaded for better consistency. enjoy!


	3. With Friends Like These...

_ The rock was beginning to crumble when Megatron finally showed. _

_ “Master, please!” Starscream wailed, all trace of dignity gone. “Have mercy!” _

_ The tyrant stalked forward, sending him into tears of relief.  _

_ “Oh, thank you, thank you--” _

_ “Thank me when you’re dead,” Megatron growled. _

_ “What--” _

_ His arm cannon powered up far faster than it should have. His fist slammed into Starscream’s side, not quite knocking him out of the way-- the blast did that, and nearly slagged a hole straight through him. Megatron approached and leveled the cannon at his helm. _

_ “No-- Master, please--” _

_ “Die.” _

=========

Starscream jerked back online. His fans cycled hard and unevenly as his optics darted around, trying to process everything at once.

A familiar voice met his audials. “You’re in the medbay, everything’s alright.”

Starscream clutched at that voice even as his hand darted up to search for something more solid. Knock Out’s servo met his and held on tight as his fans finally stabilized. The grounder murmured something soothing that he didn’t quite catch and he nodded weakly, blinking away a drop of lubricant. He heard the clink of metal on metal; Knock Out had placed his free hand over their clasped ones and was gently rubbing a thumb over Starscream's.

When he trusted himself to speak again, he rasped out, “Not a word of this-- to anyone.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Commander.” Knock Out smiled in a way that had Starscream’s spark performing three flick rolls and a loop. “It’s our little secret.”

He nodded. “Help me up.”

He would never admit it to anyone who wasn’t Knock Out, who already knew, but his knee was still plaguing him. The joints had been severely damaged by the pressure of having a ceiling dropped on him, and while his medic had expertly repaired him, his leg was still stiff.

“Would it kill you to say please?” Knock Out teased, already stepping forward to slip a hand under Starscream’s arm as he pushed himself off the berth. He shifted his grip, looping an arm around the jet’s slender, open-cabled waist. The medic took the brunt of Starscream’s weight, such as it was, as his feet touched the floor and he regained his balance. It was a routine they’d both grown used to over the past few days.

Normally, he’d lead Starscream through the first few steps and leave when the commander had shown he could walk on his own. This time, he stayed where he was, keeping a hand against the jet’s backplates. Starscream didn’t move away.

_ “Do _ be careful today, Commander. I may not have time to fix you up until tomorrow.”

He endured the needling with a grimace. “Shut up, you.”

Knock Out just laughed.

Starscream drew himself up and strode out. If his knee pained him at the moment, it wasn’t obvious. In any case, he didn’t have time for it. He had to find Soundwave and put on a show.

=========

The silent surveillance mech turned to him and blinked a reminder at him. He was recording.

“I have been a fool, made mistakes-- monumental ones,” Starscream began, clasping his hands together behind his back and willing them to stop trembling. He had to look in control. “I now realize that I was never destined to be a leader, or even an equal partner, and I’m… at peace with that.” He hung his helm and reminded himself not to grit his denta. He just had to get through this, make apologies he had no reason to give. “I have gained a clear understanding of my…  _ place _ in this universe, of who I am, of who I was always meant to be-- Starscream, second in command,  _ humble _ servant to Lord Megatron.” The word left a nasty, coppery taste in his mouth and he made a slight bow. “Thank you for listening, Soundwave.”

When Soundwave didn’t reply he took his leave, heading instinctively to the bridge. By the time he arrived and the door glided open for him, he almost felt in control again.

“Is this true?”

He winced when he heard Airachnid answer the warlord’s question. “Starscream never mentioned it.”

Megatron scoffed. “If he’s up to his old tricks, I shall grind him into powder.”

_ Remain calm, _ he reminded himself. His sensors pulled up the memory of the gentle pressure of Knock Out’s hand on his back, and he latched onto it. Starscream, second in command, reset his vocalizer with a quiet cough.

The big mech tossed a glance his way and turned away. “Starscream.”

He strode forward and put on a display of bravado. “Lord Megatron, please excuse Airachnid’s impertinence. Now, what was it that I allegedly failed to mention?”

“The Harbinger.”

_ Oh, slaggit. _ Starscream wilted. “Er, what about it?”

Airachnid turned and tapped at the display, highlighting the ship’s entry. “Eons ago, a decepticon transport crash-landed on this planet.”

Starscream interrupted her. “Oh, please, common knowledge. I scouted the crash site when we first arrived on earth.”

She smirked. “Then I presume you recovered the experimental weapon prototype the Harbinger had been transporting. Where is the crash site? It was never logged into your ship's database.”

Megatron glared and growled out, “You failed to record the coordinates of a decepticon transport?”

He took a step backwards without realizing. “An oversight, Master. But I remember where it is.”

“Good. Then you can lead Airachnid there so that she may retrieve the prototype for me.”

The spider-bot cut in before he could protest. “My personal native guide-- how delightful.”

Starscream gritted his denta. This was going to be a long cycle.

=========

Starscream got to the crash site first and did a quick roll in the air, landing lightly and easily. Airachnid touched down a few minutes later.

He smirked. “Your chosen vehicle mode lacks thrust.”   


She shot him a cutting glance. “Are you going to preen, or are you going to guide?”

The jet huffed. “I will reveal the exact location of the Harbinger when you tell me exactly what we're looking for.”

“That information is need-to-know. And right now, you don't."

Starscream almost growled. “Oh, you would do well to respect me, Airachnid. Before I joined Megatron, I was air commander of a squadron of Energon Seekers.” His wings laid themselves neatly against his back, fluttering slightly.

“On Cybertron.” She scoffed and turned her back. “And how many eons ago was that?”

He felt his wings dip at that and forced them back up. “Just recently, I personally vanquished one of Optimus Prime's fiercest warriors-- Cliffjumper.”

She tossed a glance over her shoulder.  _ “You  _ snuffed an Autobot?”

“Yes, I did…” Starscream allowed himself a smile. “Without mercy.”   


“Oh… even Megatron showed  _ you  _ mercy when he planned to terminate you at the mine.”

His spark skipped a beat and his optics widened. “What? He told you about that?”

Airachnid shrugged and turned away. “We talk.”

Starscream felt a flash of anger and caught himself before he said something regrettable. “The wreckage lies just beneath where we stand. I will need to find a point of entry--”

The spider-bot ignored him, pushed herself up, and began to tunnel down.

“Show off,” he muttered as he slipped in after her, forcing his wings flat against his back to avoid dragging them against the rock and dirt. “Suit yourself. I conducted a thorough search of this husk years ago. What are you doing?”

Airachnid smirked. “Accessing the cargo manifest. Or didn't you think to do that during your ‘thorough search’?”

He lunged forward and caught her arm. “No! The ship's systems haven't been activated for eons. The Autobots will detect its energy signature--”   


She ignored him. “Ah, here it is. Section 23. Follow me.”

Starscream scowled and stalked off after her.

“Section 23 should be right about… here? The ship just ends. It must have broken in half during the crash.”

“Or in the air,” he corrected as he caught up. “If you’d bothered to perform actual research, you would know that an Autobot battalion shot the Harbinger out of the sky.”

“How far away is the other half?”

The jet smirked and turned away. “I'm afraid that information is need-to-know.”

Airachnid hissed and seconds later Starscream crashed to the floor, bound by her webbing. Before he had a chance to react, she scuttled up and flipped him onto his back, gripping him by the face. 

“You're trying to make me look like a fool before Megatron,” the spider-bot murmured. “Have me return empty-handed while you locate that weapon yourself.”

He felt his fans start to cycle faster. “How dare you accuse me?” he shrieked. “You’re nothing but a scavenger! An opportunist!”

“Aren’t  _ you _ one to talk?” Airachnid pushed her plates closer to his and tightened her grip on his chin, thwarting his efforts to jerk away. 

He could clearly see a bead of acid gathering at the corner of her intake and tried again to pull his head away. “Perhaps, but I’ve changed, seen the error of my ways. I live to serve Megatron now.”

She spat to the side, slagging a series of small holes in the metal flooring inches away from Starscream’s helm. His legs kicked ineffectually and he heard a thin whine escape him.

That prompted a short laugh. “You won’t live to serve  _ anyone _ if you don’t tell me where to find the rest of this ship, now.”

“A few klicks north of here, through a stone arch,” he blurted out. “Now release me!”

She pushed off of his chestplates and stood. “When I have the weapon in hand-- that is,  _ if _ I can find my way back without my guide.”

“This is not funny, Airachnid. Come back here right now and cut me loose!” She turned the corner. “Airachnid, that is an order! I am your commanding officer!”

He heard her laugh and struggled mightily, nearly wrenching something out of place and doing nothing to free himself. A familiar voice echoed down the empty hallway, bringing with it the memories of a lost arm.

“Surrender.”

The spider-bot scuttled back past him with four Autobots hot on her tail.

“Airachnid, you traitor!” Starscream howled.

A pair of heavy pedes came to rest in front of him as he heard the whine of Airachnid drilling into the bedrock. His spark sank as he realized this had been her plan all along. Fire up the ship’s database to send out a signal to lure the Autobots there, escape and secure the prototype, and leave him behind for scrap. So be it. If she thought he would sacrifice himself for a cause and a master who clearly cared less and less for him by the day, then she  _ vastly _ overestimated his loyalty-- and his desire to survive his immediate predicament. A moment later, Bulkhead reached down, grabbed him by the back of the neck, and set him on his feet.

“You’re coming with us,” the heavy mech rumbled.

“Does it look as though I have a choice?” he spat. 

“Not really.” Bulkhead began to lead him out of the ship, occasionally nudging him in the right direction. “Move it!”   


“No need to use force,” Starscream snapped. Another nudge and his heel strut caught on the ground, sending him crashing to his knees at Prime’s feet. His wings lowered into a submissive position and he kept his optics cast to the ground. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

Bulkhead laughed. “Is that right? And what do you want in return?”

“I want to be…” He risked a glance up, managing to meet Prime’s optics for a moment. The jet sighed and resigned himself to the situation. “On your side.”

“On our side?” Bulkhead snorted. “Yeah, right. And I’ve been lobbing with the Fallen.”

Arcee shook her helm. “You wouldn’t betray the Decepticons.”

Starscream laughed, a twisted, derisive sound. “Wouldn't I? What have they done for me lately besides humiliate me, spy on me, demote me?” His voice began to creep up in pitch and acquired a slightly frantic edge. “Megatron tried to extinguish my spark in cold blood, then all but replaced me with that traitorous wretch Airachnid. And  _ she _ abandoned me, left me for scrap! I don’t owe hi--  _ them _ anything.”

The Autobots, Prime at their head, turned and walked away, leaving him kneeling in the dirt next to the scout. Starscream glanced up at him and had the business end of a blaster leveled at him for his trouble. He yanked his helm away with a growl. The jet strained to catch any hint of the others’ conversation and picked up Bulkhead remarking that he wouldn’t trust Starscream as far as he could throw him. How encouraging.

“I agree with Arcee,” Prime murmured.

A shiver crept up his struts and set his wings trembling. He should have been  _ expecting _ this-- leaders were all the same, even the great Optimus Prime.

Prime turned, stepped in front of Starscream, and produced a set of cuffs. “Do you know where Airachnid might be headed?”

The jet perked up at the sight of the cuffs, wingtips raising slightly. “Oh, I know  _ exactly _ where she’s headed. She’s looking for the other half of this ship and the cargo it contained. It’s a prototype of a Decepticon weapon. Don’t ask me what it does, no one bothered to tell me.”

“Where is the ship?”

He jerked his helm in its general direction. “Past a stone arch about three klicks north of here.”

Prime nodded and sliced off the webbing. “Stand up and put your hands in front of you.”

Starscream rose and presented his wrists to be cuffed. His plating, shifted out of alignment by the bindings, rattled back into place. He almost relaxed.

At least, until Prime produced a set of wing clamps. “Turn around.”

The shudder that raced over his frame was unmistakable; it seized him with such force it set his winglets clattering against his wings. He forced himself to vent and cycle his fans. “That’s really not necessary,” he rushed out. “I promise not to fly away.” 

“Until I know we can trust you, I don’t want you to be in a position to hurt any of us. Turn around.”

It took him a fraction too long to coordinate his limbs and move. He pressed his wings together and offlined his optics, waiting for the heavy hand to land on his shoulder and for his wings to be roughly shoved into the clamp. The thought set them rattling again.

Instead Prime caught his wings almost delicately in one hand and slipped the clamp over them with the other. It wasn’t comfortable-- they never were-- but it wasn’t as unpleasant as it could have been, and Starscream took a small amount of solace in that.

“I’m not carrying him,” Bulkhead muttered.

Bumblebee buzzed.  _ Throw him in the trailer? _

=========

“Rise and shine, Screamy.”

Starscream would have protested the name if Bulkhead hadn’t grabbed him by the ankles, dragged him out of Prime’s trailer (producing a truly horrendous screeching as metal scraped metal), and let him fall on his aft in the dirt. He coughed on dust and resisted the urge to kick the mech.

Arcee folded her arms. “We’re here. Where’s the ship?”

“It’s through the arch.” He gestured with his bound servos. “Half-buried in the rocks.”

Starscream painstakingly pushed himself onto his knees, wobbling without the use of his wings to stabilize him, as the Autobots discussed who’d be watching him. The shifting slid the clamp up; when it fell back down, it jammed against his right wing joint, creating a painful cramp as the wires crimped. Starscream fluttered his wings, clicking them against the clamp and drawing Arcee’s attention. Apparently she’d either volunteered or drawn the short straw.

He tilted his helm down and hiked up a shoulder. “Is this really necessary? On my spark, I won’t fly away.”

She looked on unsympathetically. “I can shove you back in the trailer.”

Starscream puffed air out of his vents and went silent.

Arcee resumed her pacing and the jet tracked her with focused optics. The silence built, occasionally pierced by the click of metal on rock.   


After a while it became too much and he broke the silence. “I'm not really so bad, you know. Megatron--” An icy shock hit him and he shuddered; Megatron would almost certainly kill him if he ever discovered what he was doing.  _ “He's _ the evil one.”

“Tell it to someone who cares.”   


“Like whom, Airachnid?” He made a rude noise in the back of this throat. 

Arcee paused. “So, we can agree on one thing.”

“Oh, you have no idea.” He rattled his wings loudly, trying to cover a shiver at the thought of the spider-bot’s smile. “She showed up one day, and the next thing you know, she's acting like she runs the place!” He shook his helm, growing more indignant by the moment. “She whispered lies to Megatron, maneuvered to rob me of my place. Do you have  _ any _ idea what I’ve endured to secure it?”

She glared. “Well, she terminated my partner.”   


“What?” Starscream bit back an angry vocalization. “I mean, I’m sorry to hear that.”

“No, you aren’t.”   


She was right. “What was their name?”

“Tailgate.”

He nodded, considering the name. “When did it happen?”

“When we were still on Cybertron.”

“Mm.”

Arcee resumed her pacing and Starscream fell silent for a while. Waiting for the other bolt to break was becoming intolerable.

“How’s the arm?” He blurted out. “It can’t have been easy for an Autobot to find a replacement on this rock.”

“It’s fine, no thanks to you.” She idly rubbed a hand over her shoulder.

“Mm-hmm. And, ah… Cliffjumper?”

“You know exactly what happened to Cliff,” she shot back, whipping around. “One of your ‘Con buddies extinguished him!”

“Oh, make no mistake, it was no ‘friend’ that scrapped him,” he shot back with more bitterness than he expected. “Decepticons don’t have partnerships-- not like you and Cliffjumper.”

“You don’t deserve to say his name!”

Starscream rocked back on his heel struts now that a sickeningly familiar venom had slipped into her voice and almost grinned. “I hope you gave him a nice memorial. Rumor has it you couldn’t find very much of him.”

Arcee’s foot lashed out, catching him just below the chassis and throwing him onto his aft. She raised a blaster at him.

His fans cycled faster as memories and data scraps from the energon mine flooded his displays. He almost moaned.

“Okay, okay, that was a mistake!” he cried. “I've made many, but I've changed! You wouldn't terminate a defenseless prisoner, would you?” Beads of lubricant began to well up at the corners of his optics. 

“I’m prepared to make an exception for you.” She stalked towards him, blades replacing servos.

Starscream did the only thing his panic would let him do-- he begged. “No, please! I-I don't want to fight! What's past is past. I thought I was one of you now!”

“You’ll never be one of us. You’ve done too much.”

His leg jerked. “No! No, please! No!” 

His heel strut caught on something and he managed to push himself back and roll over his shoulder, getting his feet back under him in the process. He came up swinging and actually managed to knock one of Arcee’s blades aside. The other caught him across the face, leaving a deep scratch below his right optic. She swung a blade back down, caught the edge of the cuffs around his wrists, and yanked hard, forcing his arms away from his body. Her fist shot out and slammed squarely into his chestplates. Starscream staggered and went down. 

Arcee jammed a blade against his neck and Starscream laughed frantically.

“Go on, do it. Megatron will only terminate me for treason if I dare return to the Decepticons.” His voice hitched uncomfortably as he tried to work around what felt like a lump in his vocalizer. Starscream cursed himself. It wasn’t as though they’d miss him-- or he them. “You may as well be the one to put me out of my misery.”

“As if I needed convincing.”

Starscream remained oddly silent, helm turned slightly away from Arcee. 

They heard a frantic series of buzzes and blips from the top of the hill.  _ Arcee, don’t! _

“Give me a good reason, Bee.”

Starscream craned his helm to look as the scout made a sad whir and a whine.  _ Optimus and Bulkhead are frozen and the Immobilizer’s broken! I just called Ratchet. _

Arcee planted a heel in the jet’s side and shoved him over. A blaster aimed in the general direction of his helm ensured he stayed there. “Keep an eye on him for a bit? I’d be too tempted to shoot him.”

Bumblebee nodded and buzzed over to take her place. As soon as her back was turned, Starscream forced himself back into a more dignified position, chestplates heaving. He briefly met the short mech’s optics and found something like concern there, though it was obviously meant for his teammates.

Arcee turned back after a moment and glanced over the scout. “You alright, Bee?”

He whirred his confirmation. A moment later, something much larger whirred, and Starscream flinched mightily when the Autobot’s medic rushed out of their groundbridge. It took some doing, but he eventually got Prime and Bulkhead moving again. After checking in with each member of his team, Prime turned to Starscream. 

“While your fight with Arcee has shown that it may be a long time before we can count you as a true ally, every sentient being deserves an opportunity for redemption. Without the hope that our enemies might one day become our friends, we may never achieve lasting peace.”

Starscream eyed him warily and waited.

“To that end, we will release you.”

Arcee’s optics clicked almost as wide as the jet’s did. “What?” she exclaimed. “Optimus, you can’t be serious!”

“I am.”

Starscream rebooted his vocalizer with a quiet cough. “If I may…” They turned to him. “Why?” He narrowed his optics. “Why let me go, since you so obviously don’t trust me?”

Prime looked back to him. “Consider this a show of good faith. I would be willing to work with you, Starscream-- if you show that you are willing to work with us.”

He motioned for the jet to step forward and undid the clamp. Starscream let out a sigh of relief and fluttered his wings, shuffling them neatly back into order.

“Where will you go?”

“Away from here.” Starscream turned and presented his wrists. Prime unlocked the cuffs.

The jet stepped back, rubbing at the wires in his arm. “Well, it’s been fun, but you got what you came for, and I really should be going before Airachnid returns to the Nemesis. I suppose I’ll run into you again sooner or later.” 

Starscream leapt into the air and transformed. He fired his engines and raced off over the rocks into the sunset. Scanner reported nothing following him, but he wouldn’t rest easy until he was well away from the Autobots. He’d been subject to this sort of ploy before-- let your victim think they’d gotten away safely and then hit them just before they got out of range. This whole thing could have been part of one of Megatron’s plans-- he’d set up more elaborate ones in the past. The thought made his engines race a little faster, pushing him further from the warlord.

=========

Knock Out felt like he’d been pacing for hours. A time check told him Starscream was running a full hour behind. The mission with Airachnid had been his first long-distance flight since the last batch of repairs, and he should have checked in with the medic afterwards to ensure that all systems were running at capacity.

Knock Out sighed and commed Soundwave. He didn’t bother with the pleasantries. “Have Commander Starscream and Airachnid returned yet?”

Soundwave nodded and flashed a time code at him.

“What? She returned three hours ago? Then where is Starscream?”

Soundwave displayed a small map with a tag overlaid: Current Location Unknown.

“Have you scanned for him?”

If the silent mech had optics, he’d be rolling them. He flashed a “results negative” at the medic.

“Well, scan again.”

Soundwave complied. Knock Out watched him work with what he’d later realize was mounting worry. When the scan was complete and Soundwave flashed a more insistent “Current Location Unknown” at him, Knock Out’s worst fears were confirmed.

Starscream was missing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someday I'll update this fic not in the middle of the night. Today is clearly not that day. And so much for "one week until next update"! I'll actually be working on the next two chapters over my break, so those will probably be up a lot sooner than I'm anticipating right now.
> 
> After this point, you can expect to see major divergence from canon, fair warning.
> 
> **6/1/18 update:** chapter has been edited and reuploaded for better consistency. enjoy!


	4. Expectations

Three days later, there had still been no word from or sign of Starscream. Knock Out hadn’t been this on-edge since he’d first arrived on the Nemesis, unsure of the situation and the players in it. Each time someone pinged his commlink, he expected it to be Starscream. He expected to answer and hear that irritating voice that would hitch and pick up when the jet started complaining, or dip low into gravel with his plotting, or snap and crackle when something annoyed him, or rasp the way it did when he first emerged from recharge, or--

Knock Out just expected to hear his voice.

A full week passed. No Starscream.

Knock Out began scouring the Decepticon radio chatter, listening for anything that might indicate the commander was still on-planet-- or even still online. There was little to indicate that the Seeker was, but there was less to indicate that he wasn’t. A body hadn’t been found, and that would certainly be reported. At first there were a scattering of sightings near the Harbinger, but each time, the scouts found nothing at the site. At one point an unconfirmed report came in that Starscream had been spotted on the ground in his alt-mode and Knock Out almost took off after him-- until he heard the follow-up report two minutes later that the scout had misidentified a human military jet. After that, the reports ceased.

The radio silence was made worse by the fact that Megatron had not once mentioned his former second in command. At times it felt almost as if the mech had never existed to begin with.

Of course he had, and his absence was rarely more pronounced than when Megatron summoned Knock Out to the bridge. The first few times, he’d rushed up there, sure he was being called to transport Starscream back to the medibay. As time went on, his pace slowed. By the end of the first few weeks, he was back to walking. But even though he no longer ran, he still expected to see Starscream begging for his life, or slumped half-scrapped on the floor, or already back on Megatron’s good side with something juicy on the Autobots, or giving a report with those slender servos clasped neatly behind his back, or--

He just expected to see Starscream. Full stop. And what he really expected was to find Starscream waiting impatiently for him in the medibay so Knock Out could complete the last diagnostic that would finally give him a clean bill of health. 

He knew from experience fixing Starscream’s various damages that although he looked like a delicate mech, he was resilient and damn hard to keep down. Still, Knock Out couldn’t shake the feeling in his spark that something devastating had happened, despite the lack of reports, substantiated or otherwise.

The more Knock Out caught himself thinking about Starscream, the more he wondered why he cared so much. Starscream was, quite frankly, a pain in the gearshift. He never shut up, he was arrogant, he acted like he didn’t give a frag about anyone else, he rarely thought before he spoke, his moods were unpredictable and often taken out on the bots around him… 

Oh, and he was rude.

Knock Out was well aware that some of that was a reaction to Megatron, both his actions and the stress of working under him. But that didn’t mean it wasn’t a scrapshit way to behave. He wasn’t sure if he wanted Starscream back simply to break the strain of waiting, or if he wanted the mech to stay away for his own safety-- though the longer he considered that particular problem, the more he realized it was likely better that Starscream remain missing. If Megatron found him at this point, he’d no doubt try to kill him. He didn’t want to end up having to use the rest of the spare parts he’d found in storage.

Knock Out cycled his vents in irritation and tried to focus on the reports at hand. It didn’t take him long to throw them down in frustration and stalk out of the medibay. It was as though as soon as his biggest distraction was removed, his processor wouldn’t let him focus on anything  _ but _ that distraction. He needed, as the humans would say, some fresh air.

He was going for a drive. It’d be much easier to get out without Starscream and his “tight ship.” Soundwave let him pass without incident and he was soon on his way, speeding through the desert with human music blaring out of his speakers-- another thing Starscream would have needled him for.

A few hours later he realized it also wasn’t as entertaining; his worry had eaten away at his enjoyment like a rust infection in dying metal. Doing something expressly forbidden had been half the fun-- and with no air commander to rile up over it, all he had left was the concern.

Knock Out groaned and slammed on the brakes, screeching to a stop. “Frag this.”

He called for a groundbridge.

=========

It had been almost a month since Starscream had gone missing. Still Megatron seemed insistent on denying the mech’s existence, at least around Knock Out. And there was no way he was going to ask Airachnid if she and Megatron talked about their biggest shared helmache when the medic wasn’t around. To make matters worse, the warlord had started taking out his frustrations on everyone around him when in the past it had been limited to the jet. The only one spared (so far) had been Soundwave.

“You would  _ think,” _ Knock Out muttered tetchily as he tried to straighten out one of his front fenders, “that with Screamer gone, he’d be a little less  _ irritable. _ But oh, no, he’s just as bad! For someone who swears he hates the mech, he’s sure got his wires in a bunch over him. Wish he’d at least get off  _ my _ skid plate about every little thing!” He huffed and popped something back into place with a wince. “I’m the medic, not a miner! So why is it suddenly  _ my _ fault when he can’t find new energon deposits?”

“Mute it, would you? You’re starting to sound like Starscream.”

Knock Out almost shrieked. For a big mech, Breakdown could be surprisingly light on his pedes, and he hadn’t heard him come in. “Doesn’t anyone knock on this ship? Aren’t you supposed to be on duty?”

“Yeah, I’m not sticking around. I’ll let you get back to your complaining in a second. Lord Megatron wants me back in the field on that new mine.”

“Mm.” He yanked at a bit of stubborn plating. “Sounds enjoyable.”

“Ah, at least I don’t have to be up here.” Breakdown leaned back against one of the medberths and folded his arms. “You could go looking for him, you know. Megatron wouldn’t notice.”

Knock Out turned. “What?”

“Go look for him,” Breakdown repeated patiently. “Since you’ve clearly got _your_ wires in a bunch about it.”

“I--! I do not!”

“Sure, Knock Out.” He rolled his optics with a fond smile, picked up his gear and walked out, calling over his shoulder, “Whatever you say!”

Knock Out huffed and folded his arms, glancing in irritation at Breakdown’s retreating back. It was easy enough to get off the Nemesis without being seen; he’d proven that weeks ago, but…

It certainly didn’t mean he was worked up over him. It was just… he was only being a good physician.

Or a good friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was the most difficult so far, which is part of why it's so short. Knock Out's voice is very difficult for me to write, and it's probably ten kinds of messed up as well. Next chapter we should be getting back to the usual length.
> 
> **6/4/18 update:** chapter has been edited and reuploaded for better consistency. enjoy!


	5. Operation: Starscream

Starscream was getting desperate.

Not that desperation was a new situation for him, but it was becoming more pronounced than usual. He’d used up most of his fuel reserves avoiding a world that seemed to be turning itself inside out with natural disaster after natural disaster, and aerial or no, there was a limit to the amount of time he could safely spend in the air. It had been… uncomfortably long since his last proper refuel and longer still since he’d seen a mildly friendly face. And he certainly wasn’t going to see one where he was heading.

He’d been trying to locate the Nemesis for a while now and he’d finally gotten a lock on its location. He’d been trailing along far behind it for hours, waiting. Megatron regularly sent out air patrols, and by his count, one was due to return at any moment.

Right on cue, a small squadron of vehicons shot up from below the clouds, heading for the Nemesis. Starscream fell into formation with them and glided into the docking bay behind them. He transformed quietly, savoring the feeling of metal under his pedes again. He’d actually missed it.

Get in, find a few cubes, get back out. The plan was simple enough.

Starscream rounded the corner and almost ran directly into a pair of vehicons on patrol. He straightened up and strolled towards them, hands behind his back and wings held uncomfortably stiff.

Predictably, they leveled their blasters at him. “Starscream!”

“That’s  _ Commander _ Starscream. What’s your malfunction?” he demanded. “Lower those weapons immediately.”

“Sorry, sir, but Lord Megatron ordered that you be taken into custody should you ever return to the ship.”

He let out a nervous laugh. “Ah… clearly there has been a mistake.”   


“No mistake, sir. Please come with--  _ aah!” _

Starscream’s hand shot out, clawed fingers plunging into the vehicon’s throat in desperation and yanking at wires. That one fell, clutching at a force-blown vocalizer that quickly became a system-wide failure as sparks sputtered out. The last thing the other ever saw was Starscream’s talons piercing their visor.

He exvented quietly and flicked a few drops of energon off his digits. No time for regret. He couldn’t risk being there if anyone came to investigate the source of the disturbance. It was only a short walk from there to storage, one the jet made at double speed. He darted in, swiped the first few cubes he saw, and retreated. It didn’t matter if their absence was noticed; the terminated vehicons would doubtlessly draw attention. And judging by the yelling, they just had. Starscream tightened his grip on the cubes and ducked into the first room he found, just before a patrol went running by. He turned to scan the room and the cubes tumbled from his arms in shock.

“Optimus Prime?” he yelped. “But I heard no news of your capture! What happened?”

Prime, just as startled as he was, flinched and whipped around, words tumbling from his vocalizer. “Capture? I-I wasn’t captured. I’m here to do research. For Lord Megatron.”

Starscream cycled his optics and tried to determine if the input he was receiving from his audials was accurate. Had  _ Optimus Prime _ just referred to Megatron as  _ Lord? _ “Is this some kind of joke?” he managed.

“Why would I be joking? And why did you call me Optimus Prime?” A note of panic crept into the mech’s voice. “Who are you?”

“Uh… why wouldn’t I?”

“Because my name is Orion Pax. I am far from being a Prime.”

The jet’s optics flicked to the Decepticon insignia welded to Prime’s shoulder and clicked to their widest setting. “You reminded me of… a-- someone I used to know, that’s all. I am Starscream, Lord Megatron’s former second in command.”

Prime’s face displayed the most confusion Starscream had seen on a bot in a while. “What? He told me you had been terminated.”

“Oh, he would have liked that,” he muttered bitterly. “Lord Megatron says many things, only some of which are true. Tell me, Orion Pax, who did he tell you led the Autobots?”

“Ratchet,” he answered earnestly. “The Doctor of Doom.”

The burst of laughter that left Starscream’s vocalizer was so frantic he almost caused it to short out. “Ratchet is many things, but he is not that. He is a medic, not a warlord. You truly are being kept in the dark, aren’t you?”

“You speak in many riddles, Starscream. Please, tell me what it is that you know. If Ratchet does not lead, then who does?”

Starscream laid a servo on his arm and dropped his voice to a murmur. “You should look into the bot named Optimus Prime. And I would look more closely at any information Lord Megatron gives you about the Autobots. His judgement has been somewhat… clouded lately. You may think he is trying to protect you, but he will only hurt you in the end.”

Before Optimus could reply, the door behind them slid open and the few vehicons on the other side snapped into a ready position.

“Starscream, surrender!”

That was a lot of blasters aimed at him. He yelped and ducked behind Prime, who raised his hands. “Hold your fire!”

They weren’t going to, and Starscream knew it. He bolted from the room, leaving behind the energon cubes, and transformed. It wouldn’t matter how much energon he got out with if they managed to shoot it; he’d just blow up right along with it. He hissed as a blast ricocheted off the ceiling in front of him and spiralled down another hallway.

A well-placed shot sent the first two vehicons crashing into each other in a painful tangle, but the third sailed over them, keeping on Starscream’s tail. He swore and braked in midair. Heels impacted cockpit as the commander landed and fired. He sprang back off when the vehicon dipped toward the floor.

He’d have to blast his way out. No matter.

Starscream burst out of the Nemesis, cursing his luck. He didn’t hear the whistling until it was too late.

The missile connected and threw him into a tailspin, setting every sensor screaming. The ground reached up to welcome him back.

=========

Knock Out almost dropped the welder he was manipulating when the report made its way to his terminal.  _ Starscream  _ had attacked the Nemesis? Even he wasn’t that reckless, was he?

“At least he’s alive,” the medic muttered, flicking through the rest of the report, and felt his spark drop when he got to the part where a drone triumphantly reported that Starscream had sustained damage and had last been seen heading for a crash-landing. The report ended with the pleased observation that a fall from that height and velocity would most likely be enough to permanently offline the former commander.

The welder bounced once when it hit the floor and clattered to a halt next to Knock Out’s feet. The medic was vaguely aware of his fans beginning to cycle. Just like that, Starscream was… gone? To survive so much, only to be terminated like this… 

It wasn’t fair.

His hands were trembling and he had to brace himself against the wall to keep his balance. Up until that point, he realized he hadn’t really come to terms with the possibility that Starscream might--

Knock Out didn’t notice he was crying until the first few drops of lubricant blurred his vision before falling to the ground. He wiped a tear away and stared at it for a long moment, like he still wasn’t sure it was real.

And then it hit him.

“Oh, Primus,” he groaned.

His commander was dead.

=========

Starscream crash-landed in the middle of forest. He hauled himself out of the rut he’d scored into the ground, painfully aware of his burned and battered plating. There was no time to assess the damage now. Something splattered onto the ground.

Energon.  _ His  _ energon, in fact. He could feel it running down the struts and cables in his waist. With gritted denta, Starscream forced himself onward, away from the crash site. Help. He needed help. He needed Knock Out.

He paused against a rocky outcropping and was about to comm his medic when he remembered. Knock Out was a Decepticon. And whatever the insignia welded to his chestplates might have said, that was a claim he could no longer make. Knock Out, as long as he remained with Megatron, was no longer his ally, if he’d ever been.

Starscream groaned and resigned himself to the fact that he might actually have to call upon the Autobots for help. Then he smirked. There was no way they could possibly know the location of their beloved Optimus Prime. He wasn’t helpless yet; he still had a bargaining chip left. He fired off an encoded message to their medic, snickering at the idea of Ratchet as a warlord: ‘I have obtained information regarding your leader. Bring medical kit. Please come alone.’

By the time that glitched excuse for a medic had arrived, Starscream was slumped against the rock, energon still dripping, hand clamped over his side. The hum of the Autobot groundbridge brought him fully to attention.

He growled. “I asked you to come alone!”

Bulkhead snorted. “And since when do we listen to you?”

Ratchet held up a small cube of energon and a medical welder. “Where is Optimus?”

“Patch me up and I’ll tell you,” he replied, eyeing the cube with hungry optics.

The two Autobots shared a glance, shrugged, and turned back towards the groundbridge.

“Wait!” He heaved himself up and staggered forward a step. “Have a bit of sympathy, would you?”

“If you want it, I suggest you speak quickly. Has Optimus been harmed?”

“No, no, not at all! He’s fine. Can’t you see  _ I’m _ the one who’s been harmed?” Starscream shifted and felt a few more beads of energon slide down his side.

“Where is he?”   


“Where do you think?” he snapped. “On the Nemesis!”

Bulkhead actually laughed at him. “Tell us something we  _ don’t  _ know. Where is it now?”

“Now? Who knows. It’s a ship, it moves.” The pain was starting to make it hard to think. “It’s somewhere south of here-- about five, six klicks-- heading east.”

Ratchet nodded and tossed him the cube and field welder. Despite the difficulty he was having coordinating his digits, he managed to catch them and clutched them close.

“That’s it?” Starscream cried. “You’re going to leave me here?”

“Until we can determine the validity of your information, yes.”

“Unless you’ve got something useful to tell us,” Bulkhead added, “you can stay here and rust.”

He cursed them both when the groundbridge closed. At least they’d left him the welder. He might not have been a medic, but he’d done enough repairs to know roughly what to do. He’d be able to rig a patch until he could get some proper medical attention.

He hoped. At the very least, he didn’t plan on being there if they came back. They didn’t trust him, doubted his information? Fine. Their loss.

Starscream got the patch in place and attached before gathering up all of the information that comprised what he’d seen on the Nemesis, threw it into another encoded message, and sent it off to the Autobots. At least  _ he _ was making the effort!

He downed the cube and tossed it aside with an irritated jerk. Starscream picked himself up and prepared to launch himself into the air to reassume vehicle mode. The patch creaked.

Perhaps it was better to walk.

The Seeker’s systems flashed a set of warnings at him: Low fuel levels. Reaching critical in--

He angrily dismissed them and started off. His sensors, now that they were edging out of the feedback loop of pain, picked up a hit. Energon, or something quite like it, and close. It was  faint, but definitely there. He decided to risk flying and pressed on towards it. No visual trace yet, but there was something else.

Then he wasn’t flying anymore.

He hit the ground, hard, almost ripping off the patch as he lost control of his alt-mode and bounced, skidding to a painful stop in front of… was that a human? Starscream tried to push himself up, failed. Conflicting information from his sensors flooded him and he felt like he’d been pinned by some kind of net. He could still hear, and see-- faintly-- but everything else seemed to have been offlined, hopefully temporarily.

He heard another human approach the scarred one. “Is that a patch? It looks injured. Should we try for something in better shape, sir?”

“No,” the scarred one replied. Starscream shuddered; something in the human’s voice reminded him of Megatron. “Work quickly before it dies and take what’s functional-- anything that’s of use to MECH’s cause.”

_ No, _ Starscream tried to say.  _ You don’t want to do this. _

But all he could force out of his uncooperative vocalizer was a low groan. He heard the buzz of a saw, growing louder as it neared, until the rest of his systems kicked out and plunged him into involuntary stasis.

=========

He couldn’t fly. He couldn’t fight. He was alone, injured, with little idea where he was. The humans had left him for dead, or thought him dead already, and hadn’t bothered to put him back together properly. Starscream heaved himself up, frame creaking, and limped towards something that from a distance looked like it might pass for shelter. He found a cave, dragged himself into it, and collapsed.

_ Warning: critical-- _

Oh, and his sensors were still giving him low power alerts.

Starscream gave up and desperately commed Knock Out.

There was a fair bit of static, but the voice on the end of the line belonged to the medic. “How did you get this frequency? Who are you? Identify yourself at once!”

The jet released a vent he hadn’t realized he was holding. “This is…  _ former _ Commander Starscream.”

“Is-- is this a joke?” Knock Out demanded.

“Disappointed? It’s really me.”

When Knock Out spoke again, his voice was much quieter. “Are you alright? I… thought you’d been terminated.”

Starscream rolled his optics. “What, were you…  _ concerned _ about me?”

“Yes,” he admitted.

That shut him up for a minute.

“Starscream?” the medic pressed.

“I’m… still here, Knock Out.”

“Where are you?”

“I… don’t know. Can you track my signal? I… I need your help. I’ve been injured--”

“Stay right where you are, and try not to move too much,” he replied. “I’m locking onto your signal… now. I’ll be there soon."

“Good. Please--” His voice was swallowed by a burst of static.

Knock Out almost swore. “What? What is it?”

Silence.

“Starscream? Starscream!”

The commlink crackled back to life. “I’m here. But please… please hurry.”

“I will.”

He heard the whir of transformation and the screech of tires before the commlink shut down.

=========

Starscream looked worse than Knock Out had ever seen him before, and that included the cave-in. His wings had been forced into uncomfortable positions by the weight of his own body on top of them and his long, slender legs were splayed out in an almost unnatural way. One hand lay listlessly at his side while the other had evidently been clamped over the patch in his side; now it was merely draped there. From below that patch leaked a sluggish flow of energon, so much so that it had formed a puddle under his hip. His helm lolled to one side, mouth hanging slightly open, and his optics…

_ Oh, Primus. _ His optics were dimmer than Knock Out had ever seen them.

“Starscream?” Knock Out knelt beside him and laid a hand on his shoulder. “Starscream, it’s Knock Out, can you hear me?”

His optics flickered more brightly for a moment. “Yes…”

The medic’s spark leapt when he spoke. By rights it shouldn’t have; the mech’s voice wasn’t pleasant, didn’t flow nicely, and was a better suited for barbed insults than compliments. And yet…

He shook his helm and shut down that particular processor thread. “Good. Who did this to you?”

He exvented raspily. “I… heard them call themselves MECH.” His optics dimmed again.

“Stay with me, sweetspark.” He didn’t even register the pet name and Starscream was almost too out of it to notice. “What happened?”

“I don’t… know. It--” He groaned. “It hurts… I think something’s wrong with… my T-cog.”

From the look of him, they’d stripped his T-cog and then abandoned him, and it was clear the damage from his ill-fated attempt to sneak aboard the Nemesis hadn’t been repaired properly either.

“Why didn’t you call me sooner?”

“I… I couldn’t. I didn’t think… you’d come.” With a little burst of strength he lifted his arm off the ground and took hold of the medic’s hand. “Knock Out… whatever happens to me, I want you to know… it has been an honor serving with you.”

“Only one thing’s going to happen to you,” Knock Out soothed, clasping both hands briefly around Starscream’s limp one. “I’m going to patch you up and get you somewhere safe.”

“Isn’t that… two things?”

The medic almost smiled. “Hush, you. Here, put your arm around me. I need to lay you down so I can take a look at that. Who did the patch job?”

Starscream threaded his arm around Knock Out’s shoulders and winced when the medic shifted him. “I did,” he replied blearily.

“Not bad, actually. But I’m going to have to take that off so I can fix it up properly.”

That prompted a tiny smile. “Be… my guest, Doctor. It would appear that I am… at your mercy.”

_ Better mine than Megatron’s. _ “This is probably going to hurt a bit. I’m going to have to keep you out of stasis for this first part. I can’t have you offlining on me, and I’m not sure your systems can handle full stasis right now.”

Starscream groaned as his hand slid off his chestplates, leaving behind streaks of energon. “Just… get it over with.”

=========

The whole procedure took several hours. Several hours hunched over the Seeker’s frame, going over every inch of damage. Several hours of fighting to keep Starscream’s systems from offlining. Several hours of murmured reassurances even after Knock Out slipped him into stasis.

Several hours of trying to figure out the best way to tell him.

Knock Out sighed, applied the last of the welds, and sank down next to Starscream, taking gentle hold of one of his hands. Waited some more for him to come out of stasis.

“You never should have gone off on your own,” Knock Out muttered. He was trying to be angry with the Seeker, angry that he was there, angry that he’d been so easily torn away from the Nemesis.

But anything could pull him away from the Nemesis these days, he was relieved he’d been able to help, and he was overjoyed that Starscream was still alive.

His optics shot wide at the realization. Knock Out glanced at the mech at his side and found himself smiling fondly when he saw that Starscream had curled slightly towards him. He’d come out of stasis and into recharge.

He sighed and finally admitted what he’d been trying to deny since Starscream had first disappeared months ago: he’d somehow fallen for the most irritating mech he’d ever met.

Ignoring his racing spark, he leaned over and gently shook Starscream’s shoulder. “Congratulations, you’re still online.”

Slowly, the Seeker’s optics came up to slightly less than full power. His voice was raspy with exhaustion. “Diagnosis, Doctor?”

Knock Out sighed. “Starscream, I’m so sorry. It’s… worse that we thought.” He paused. “Your T-cog is gone.”

A shudder ran over the jet’s frame. Starscream’s chestplates began to heave at irregular intervals; it took Knock Out a minute to realize that he was crying.

Sobbing, actually. The silver mech hunched forward, ignoring the pull of the welds in his side, and buried his face in his hands. 

The medic instinctively reached out and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. He ran a digit over the struts at the base of Starscream’s wings. “We can fix this.”   


“How?” he wailed. “My T-cog isn’t  _ broken, _ they  _ took _ it!”

“There are procedures-- surgeries--”

Starscream cut him off. “They all require a donor.”

He was right.

“We’ll figure it out,” Knock Out promised. After a long, awkward moment he changed the subject. “How did MECH find you? What happened?”

He offlined his optics. “I was a fool. I thought it was an energon signature. They stunned me-- I don’t know how. They cut me open…” He rubbed a finger over the new seams in his chestplates. “I… I thought I was going to die.”

_ I’m glad you didn’t, _ Knock Out almost said.

“It looks like they left you with something, though.” He gestured to the patch he’d pulled off the jet.

Starscream froze.

“Any idea why?”

“It’s not important,” he snapped.

Knock Out pulled back in surprise. “Starscream, please. Just tell me--”

“I’m a traitor!” he howled. “Is that what you wanted to hear? It has nothing to do with MECH! I agreed to help the Autobots after Airachnid abandoned me. I called them before MECH got to me-- traded what I knew of Prime for their pitiful help.”

“That--” Knock Out paused, considering. “That was pretty brave, actually. Pretty stupid, too.”

A warning popped up: Recommend fan activation. Starscream dismissed it.

“So… you really have defected,” the medic continued. “Should I be expecting Optimus Prime to take me in, or are they just sending Bulkhead?”

“What? No, I didn’t-- I-I would never sell you out! No one’s coming for me. And I didn’t defect,” he added irritably. “Not… really, anyway. I didn’t join the Autobots, I just… left the Decepticons.”

Starscream hesitated, not sure he really wanted to know the answer to the question on his glossa. “Are you going to turn me in? I am sure Lord Megatron would see you well rewarded.”

“If I was planning to, you’d already be in the brig.” Oh,  _ that _ was encouraging! Knock Out mentally kicked himself. “Er-- what I mean is, no, I’m not. I’d much rather have you back in one piece.” He sighed. “It was a lot different when I first joined. It wasn’t so…  _ petty. _ The words we said actually meant something. I’m not so sure they do anymore.” He paused and glanced back up at the jet. “To be honest, Starscream, if you hadn’t left, I probably would have.”

“I’m sorry-- you would have… defected?”

“Probably.” He grinned and leaned over to the Seeker, teasing. “Would you have come with me?”

Starscream felt his fans kick on. He huffed. “What kind of question is that?”

Knock Out shrugged. “Just an idle one. How does your side feel?”

Starscream ran a hand over the welding and leaned back, seeking a more comfortable position. “Tight. It still hurts.”

A tube of coolant helped ease Starscream’s pain enough for him to sink closer to recharge while Knock Out’s continued presence provided the safety to do so. The jet turned slightly and rested his helm against the grounder’s front fender. His lowered wings quietly clicked against the ground with each exvent. The medic slipped an arm around him to rest a hand on his back, carefully avoiding the patch in his side; the commander made a quiet vocalization and nudged his helm against his chassis like he was trying to burrow into him.

Knock Out brushed a thumb over his face, just missing the scar under his optic. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Good,” Starscream rasped.

It wasn’t much, but for the moment it was enough to be next to each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! I'm sorry this chapter took so long to get up. It's been sitting around half-finished for a while now, but lately I've been dealing with some mental health problems and a resulting lack of motivation to finish it. But here it is!
> 
> **6/4/18 update:** chapter has been edited and reuploaded for better consistency. enjoy!


	6. Starcrossed

The voice in his comms was full of static, a by-product of him being deep underground. “Have you found it yet?”

Starscream lost his grip on the wall and tumbled back down onto his aft, swearing.

“Starscream?” Knock Out pressed. “What happened?”

He groaned and picked himself up. “I’m here, Knock Out. You startled me.”

“Oh, sorry. So that clang--”

His facial plates flooded with warmth. “What did you want?”

“Did you find the deposit? It should be right around there.”

Starscream checked the coordinates Knock Out had sent him against his current position and snorted. “Are you sure these are accurate? There’s nothing here! I’ve been up and down these walls and I--” He turned the corner and what he was about say died in his vocalizer as he flattened himself against the rocks.

“Starscream?” The medic’s voice was tinged with a dose of panicked concern that he’d later deny. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s Airachnid!” he hissed. “She’s here, with an insecticon!”

Knock Out started to say something, but it was lost to the rush of energon past Starscream’s audials and the frantic pounding of his spark in his chest as anger swept over him at the thought of what she’d done to them.

To him, to Knock Out, to  _ Breakdown. _

Knock Out had commed him in a panic about a week ago. It had taken a while to calm him down enough to make the smallest amount of sense out of his words, but Breakdown’s name had been foremost among them. Eventually Starscream had managed to get out of him that Breakdown was dead-- and that Airachnid was the cause of it.

_ “I’ll kill her,”  _ Starscream had immediately sworn. He still wasn’t sure Knock Out had heard him. And he’d meant it, too. The humiliation she’d forced upon him-- slag, it was  _ her fault _ he was even here!-- paled in comparison to this. Breakdown had always been civil to Starscream, actually bordering on kind, but Breakdown and Knock Out… 

Well, Starscream wasn’t stupid.

Finally, Knock Out cut through his thoughts. “--hear me? Do not engage her! It’s too dangerous!”

Slowly, Starscream’s battle protocols subsided, and he lowered the arm he hadn’t realized he’d raised and disengaged the mounted rocket. “I’ll… find another way out.”

“What-- what are you going to do?”

“I’ll be fine.”

“That’s not an answer!”

“Trust me,” Starscream said, and damn him, but Knock Out did.

The medic sighed and relented. “Just… be careful.”

“I will.” He cut the commlink and crept closer, still pressed against the wall.

“Yes, minion,” Airachnid purred. “Approach me. Obey me.  _ Worship _ me.” She paused, considering the hulking bot in front of her. “Yes… you’ll do. Megatron will  _ pay _ for this.”

“And you’ll pay too,” the jet muttered.

The spider-bot’s helm jerked up. “What was that?”

Panic froze him in place. He hardly dared vent until Airachnid relaxed again. Slowly, carefully, he slunk back the way he’d come. Once he was confident he was clear, he reluctantly composed a message, packed it up, and sent it off. 

Minutes later, he received another comm. “Starscream, is this true?”

He shivered; even over comms the Prime’s voice was powerful. “Of course. I have no reason to lie to you.”

“We both know that isn’t true. What would Airachnid be doing with an insecticon?”

“She’s planning to retaliate against Meg--” Starscream shook his helm. “Er, mankind. But she’s wounded, and I can give you her exact location.”

“Why would she go rogue?”

“She…” He paused, trying to force words out of a suddenly uncooperative vocalizer. “She killed Breakdown.”

A new voice butted in. Arcee. “Why do you care?”

“That’s none of your concern,” the jet snapped. “Now, are you going to take the coordinates I sent you, or would you like me to terminate myself trying to obtain visual confirmation for you?”

“That won’t be necessary,” Prime replied. “I believe you.” 

“Good. I suggest you hurry, I doubt she plans on staying in a stripped mine for long.” 

Starscream cut the commlink and pulled himself out of the tunnel, stretching his (useless) wings with a groan. Now all he had to do was wait.

=========

He wasn’t expecting the full force of the Autobots to come flying out of a groundbridge. He was  _ really _ not expecting it to open mere meters from him, and it sent him scrambling for cover.

This was not helped in the slightest by the knowledge that  _ Megatron _ was already inside. Starscream had tried to transform on instinct when the warlord had shown up and let out an panicked whine when his internals had only screeched at him in response. 

The Seeker was now perched on a rock, helm in his hands. One heel strut tapped occasionally against the ground. After a moment he pushed himself up and began to pace. 

“Why am I still here?” he muttered, for the fourth time. He knew he should have taken off before even Megatron arrived, but he just couldn’t persuade himself to quite literally walk away.

Minutes stretched on like hours. 

And then things started exploding in the cave. One or more of the hostile parties inside had encountered each other and responded with blaster fire. Quite a lot of it, from the muffled sounds and slight tremors that raced through the ground and unbalanced him. He steadied himself against the rock and took off towards the treeline, just in time to see Airachnid tunnel out of the ground, rigging webbing as she went.

“What is she doing?” Starscream murmured.

Arcee hauled herself out of the ground after her and his shouted warning came too late to prevent the Autobot from launching herself directly into the spider-con’s trap. He groaned.

There was a brief whir and then the world turned red as one of Starscream’s few remaining missiles exploded on impact, blowing the spider-bot off of Arcee.

“This is for Breakdown,” he muttered, bracing himself and sliding carefully down the hill. “Revenge is indeed sweet!”

When the smoke from the second explosion cleared, Airachnid had disappeared, tunneling down into the earth beneath their feet. Starscream swore.

“You going to try to kill me now too, ‘Con?” Arcee spat.

The Seeker turned and slashed through the webbing that tied her to the tree branch, actually catching her before she slammed helm-first into the ground. “As I recall, we were once in a similar position, and you let me live. I--” His optical ridges furrowed. “Stop your wriggling, would you? Unless you  _ want _ to be sliced up when I cut this off.”

His talons raked down her front, neatly separating the bonds, and she was soon able to shrug out of it. Starscream glanced her over, found no visible injuries, and began to walk away. “Consider us even.”

“Hey-- that’s it?” Arcee snapped. “You set us up and then you think you can just leave?”

“It was not I who led you into that ambush. I did not think Airachnid would be so foolish as to attack Megatron directly. So yes, I  _ am _ going to leave. But you should know-- insecticons are like scraplets. There is rarely just one. Be on your guard, Autobot.”

“Starscream, come back here!”

He bristled, but before he could reply, Arcee continued. “I know you. You love a dramatic exit, but you don’t walk. What’s going on? What else are you planning?”

“Nothing!” he snapped.

A red sports car came screeching through the trees and slid to a halt between them. Knock Out assumed his root mode and shook his plating back into alignment. “He’s missing his T-cog.”

Starscream made an undignified squawking noise.  _ “Knock Out! _ What are you  _ doing _ here?”

The medic shot him a plaintive look quickly smoothed over by a characteristic smirk. “Got worried. You took so long to call me back I thought something might have happened.”

“Wait, just wait,” Arcee cut in. “Back up. He  _ lost _ his  _ T-cog? _ How?”

“That is none of your concern,” he shot back. Then he hesitated. “Unless… you would be interested in helping me acquire another. As thanks, of course, for the information I’ve given you.”

Arcee eyed them both warily and lifted a pair of fingers to her audial to comm Prime. “Optimus. Yeah, I’m okay. But you need to get over here. Starscream’s back.”

Knock Out pulled a face. “What, I don’t even get a footnote?”

“I’d rather deal with the traitor I  _ do _ know,” she shot back. 

Heavy footfalls signaled Prime’s rapid approach with the rest of the team, and when he found Starscream and Arcee standing more or less peacefully, he lowered his blasters. 

He glanced from Arcee, to the jet, to the medic, and back. “What is going on?” 

She stepped away from the cons. “Starscream… drove Airachnid off. And--”

“And he’s missing his T-cog,” Knock Out interrupted cheerfully.

_ “Knock Out!” _ Starscream hissed. 

Prime looked to him. “Is that true?”

“I--” He huffed and relented. “...Yes.”

“What happened?”

His wings hiked up. “That is not your concern… unless you’re interested in retrieving it.” He cycled his vents and took a chance. “I plan to return to the Decepticons and I need my T-cog to do it.”

He felt more than saw the whole group recoil from him at the statement, Knock Out with them.

One of Prime’s blasters powered back up as his face arranged itself into a frown. “Are you serious?”

“Of course,” he replied, acting like he’d thought this through. “What good is an unaligned spy?”

“A spy?” Prime echoed. “You are not our spy, Starscream--”

“Not now,” he cut in. “But that’s what I’m proposing. Think about it,” he continued with a sweeping gesture. “You’re woefully outnumbered, and sure, you Autobots have been holding your own on this little rock. But I think you know it’s only a matter of time before that changes. Megatron’s forces will continue to grow, while yours… may continue to dwindle. You need something that will give you the upper hand, and I can provide it.”

Knock Out shifted beside him. “The Iacon database, perhaps?”

The medic hid it well, but Starscream was fairly sure he heard a waver in his voice.

“We already have it,” Prime replied. “We obtained a copy in the… aftermath.” 

Starscream was the first to recover. “But have you decoded it?”

Prime didn’t answer. 

“I thought not.” He smirked. “If anyone can, it’s Soundwave, and if anyone can get it to you, well… that would be me. Who knows what they have stored in there? Schematics, weapons plans… perhaps even a way for you to win this war. But you won’t get it without me.”

“Without us,” Knock Out corrected. 

“What do you say, Prime? Don’t you want to see an end to this war?”

“Of course. But not on your terms.”

Starscream snorted. “You think I’m going back because of my love for Megatron? No. I want this to be over even more than you do.”

The big mech considered it and slowly nodded. He glanced down, lost in thought. After a painfully long moment, he seemed to come to a conclusion and looked back to Starscream. “Do you know where your T-cog is?”

The jet hesitated. “I… have reason to believe it is in the hands of the organic organization known as MECH.”

Another nod. “If your T-cog is indeed in the hands of MECH, we should not delay in retrieving it.”

Starscream eyed him warily. “What changed your mind?”

“The Autobots exist to protect life, even the lives of our enemies, wherever possible.”

“Not to mention stopping the damage they could do with a functioning T-cog,” Arcee muttered.

“Where did you lose it?”

His optics narrowed. “Does this mean you’ve accepted my proposition?”

“It means I will consider it. I need to discuss it with the rest of my team.”

After another moment of consideration, Starscream told him where it had happened. 

“We’ll scan the area. Their base may be nearby. I will let you know what we find, but it may be some time before we find anything. And Starscream, I understand that you will want to be there when we confront MECH, but I cannot allow that. I want my team to handle this-- I trust them. And if this proposition of yours is going to work, you have to trust them too.”

“I-- I understand.”

Another nod. “Rest assured, we will restore your T-cog, Starscream. One way or another.”

He called for a groundbridge. Arcee hung back.

Starscream eyed her. “Something to say?”

Arcee shook her helm. “No.”

She stepped in and the groundbridge closed behind her.

Knock Out shook himself with a loud rattle of plating. “‘One way or another,’ huh? That’s grim.”

Starscream turned, finally allowing his wings to relax now that it was just the two of them. “You didn’t have to do that. Your offer. If Megatron were to find out--"

“But he won’t,” the medic replied, almost desperately. “The Autobots won’t ever tell him. But… offering to steal information from Soundwave of all people isn’t any less risky.”

He waved it away. “I’m no fool. It’ll work.”

Knock Out glanced towards the horizon, where the sun had begun to set, and the spill of light shone off his crimson frame and made it glimmer brilliantly. “I hope so.”

=========

It was almost a full week before the jet heard from Prime, and it left him plenty of time to overthink.

What did Knock Out stand to gain from throwing his lot in so firmly with Starscream’s? Revenge? Power? Did he just have a death wish?

Starscream sighed and offlined his optics, pulling up a memory file. 

_ “To be honest, Starscream, if you hadn’t left, I probably would have.” _

And wasn’t that a nice sentiment, but the fact remained that Knock Out hadn’t. Until now.

_ “Would you have come with me?” _

He abruptly realized his face was burning as the file continued to play and he terminated it sharply, muttering, “Doesn’t matter now, does it?”

An older memory file, fuzzy and almost corrupted, popped up in its place. The words were in Knock Out’s voice, but that couldn’t possibly be right, because Knock Out would never have said  _ “stay with me, sweetspark,” _ because that wasn’t what Knock Out  _ did, _ not to him.

Except, apparently, it was, because the file kept going. The memories might have been hazy with pain, but Starscream remembered what could have been worry in the medic’s vocalizations. He remembered embarrassing himself by sobbing in front of him. And he remembered Knock Out wrapping an arm around him and pulling him close and he couldn’t have been dreaming that, because right after that the medic had admitted that he would have defected, and that memory was the clearest of all.

And then-- more painfully-- he remembered curling up at Knock Out’s side like a sparkling and he remembered the medic letting him stay there until he fell into recharge. And if he’d suspected he was being played, he’d ignored it and just let himself enjoy the company of his medic. 

The moment the thought occurred, Starscream seized on it. Yes, that was it-- Knock Out had to be playing him! But… why? He had nothing to gain from playing on the affections of a disgraced air commander; he was useless as long as he remained away from the Decepticons. Responding to Starscream’s calls was dangerous enough, but for Knock Out to risk being seen meeting with Starscream  _ and _ the Autobots? That was madness. 

Unbidden, Knock Out’s voice echoed through his processor.  _ “Got worried. You took so long to call me back, I thought something might have happened.” _

He hadn’t had to risk bridging down; a simple comm would have done. But Knock Out had come anyway, and offered extremely sensitive information to the Autobots to back Starscream’s play without actually knowing what it was. 

The jet sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. None of it made any sense; if Knock Out truly was trying to manipulate him, there were much safer ways of doing it. And if Knock Out was playing him… why didn’t he seem to care? The thought should have filled him with rage, but all he had was something he couldn’t name. He began to play through their earlier conversations, the times they’d spoken on the Nemesis. Things he’d brushed aside at the time he now pulled to the forefront. 

He spent hours going over every byte of the data he could find and when he reached the end of it, he was quickly staggering towards a realization that left him dizzy. Somewhere along the way he’d let himself… develop  _ feelings _ for his medic-- who acted kind and caring and who apparently worried enough to keep putting himself in danger for a mech who was going to end up dying a very painful death at this rate. And that explained why his spark leapt whenever Knock Out answered his comms, because it wasn’t just about hearing a familiar voice, it was about hearing the  _ medic’s _ voice, and why he found it difficult to think about anything that wasn’t Knock Out, because the mech was a comforting presence even at a distance, and it made him want to scream and run as far away from the feeling and the situation as possible. Because he trusted Knock Out, and it made him feel unsafe because he had no idea where to go with it from there. Because Knock Out was still mourning Breakdown and Starscream was just the idiot who’d gone and caught a few feelings and didn’t really know anything about it at all. And--

And.

And Knock Out was going to have to replace his T-cog if Prime ever found it because he had more experience with flight frames and Starscream was close to comming Prime and telling him to stop looking because he’d thought about it and really, he could live out the rest of his existence without an alt mode just fine because he didn’t want to look Knock Out in the eye and say something that would ruin this… whatever he had.

And then Prime commed him and he almost screamed, jolted out of his thoughts.

“We have located your T-cog, Starscream. It is intact, and undamaged.”

“Took you long enough,” he replied instinctively. His voice shook. “Where is it now?”

“In our base. I will deliver it to you personally.” Prime hesitated. “And my team and I have discussed your proposition.”

“And?”

“And most of my team has serious reservations about trusting you. However, I believe your actions have earned you a measure of trust, and while I have my own doubts, I will help you rejoin the Decepticons.”

Starscream sighed in something like relief. “Well, I’m glad to see at least one of you has sense.”

“Do you have a plan?”

“Of a sort… I’ll need something to barter for my life. Megatron will not look favorably upon me if I return empty-handed. I propose to make it look like I’m selling him one of you.”

“You plan to double-cross Megatron with our help.”

“Indeed. If Megatron knew that you Autobots were going to be in a particular place-- vulnerable, of course, perhaps an injury-- he’d certainly send someone to investigate. There is a chance he would even go himself. Of course, you would be expecting it…” He paused, choosing his words carefully. “And it also provides you with the opportunity to put some of his forces out of commission, the blame for which would fall on his lack of preparation rather than my information, and supplies further proof that it is advantageous to have me on his side.”

Prime almost sounded like he was smiling. “You’ve given this a lot of thought.”

Starscream scoffed. “I was a strategist. And I haven’t exactly been busy these past few days, as I’m sure you know.”

“What location?”

“Take your pick, as long as it’s not ridiculous. Discuss it with your team, if you like. I’ll wait.”

“I will let you know what we decide and comm you again when we’re ready to hand off your T-cog,” Prime promised.

“I’ll send you my coordinates. Try not to break my internals in the meantime,” he replied, and cut the comms.

It wasn’t long before Prime was back on the line. “Starscream. Are you ready?”

“Always. Do you have a location?””

“We do. I’ll discuss it with you when I bridge over.”

As he spoke, a groundbridge glimmered into existence in front of the jet and Prime stepped through.

Starscream’s optics flicked to the thing the mech had securely in hand. “My T-cog?”

Prime nodded and moved to hand it over. “Undamaged, as promised. How do you plan on replacing it?”

He waved the concerns aside. “I have someone in mind. What location did you decide on?.”

The semi hesitated only a moment before relaying the coordinates. “There’s a small clearing, near what looks like an energon deposit. We’ll be mining it for a week. Will that give you enough time?”

“Of course. And I’ll do you one better-- I’ll even let you know when Megatron plans to attack.”

“That would be appreciated. And Starscream-- what I said before still stands. I want to trust you. Don’t give me a reason not to.”

He snorted.  _ “Please. _ What do you take me for? I’m not a fool.”

Starscream turned and began to walk away. Behind him he heard Prime pause, sigh, and step back into the groundbridge. It warbled shut as he lifted a shaky pair of digits to his audial and commed Knock Out.

The medic answered almost immediately. “Starscream! They found your T-cog?”

He smirked. “They did. And I have a plan to buy my way back to Megatron’s side. I’m going to sell him an Autobot.”

“Have you told Prime?”

“I have.” His wings fluttered proudly. “He’s given me a set of coordinates to set it up.”

“What if they don’t go along with it?”

“There’s no reason to sound so nervous, Knock Out,” he assured him. “Prime has sense. All of the information I’ve given him has been accurate, and the longer I remain unaligned, the less useful I am to either side.”   


_ “Either  _ side?” the medic echoed.

Starscream actually laughed. “For now, I still need Megatron to think I’m helping him. You didn’t think I’d ever wear an Autobrand, did you?”

“Oh, I don’t know. You might look good in red.”

The snort of laughter that escaped his vocalizer was anything but refined or dignified. “Small chance of that, Doctor.” He hesitated. “And what about you? Have you considered it?”

“Nope, never have,” Knock Out replied, but he sounded unsure. “The colors clash too much.”

“I’ll be sure to tell Prime that the Autobot palette displeases you.”

He snickered. “Think we could convince them to go blue? I think it would suit both of us much better.”

“When we pull this off, I think we’ll be able to convince them to do just about anything,” Starscream replied. “But first… I need your help again. How soon can you be down here to perform a surgery?”

“Well… I  _ would _ prefer to handle this in an actual medibay, but that’s not an option. We’ll just have to make do. I’ll be free tonight. Things have been rather distracted lately, it shouldn’t be hard to slip out. Usual place?”

Starscream knew he was talking about the last place they’d met. “I’ll be there.”

There was a smile in Knock Out’s reply. “I can’t wait.”

=========

Hours later, Knock Out slid to a stop in front of him and smoothly transformed. “Well…” he started, drawing it out with a smirk. “Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.”

Starscream drew himself up with a rattle of wings, trying to distract himself from the fact that his hands were trembling at the sight of the medic. “What’s the matter, miss me? We just spoke. Do you have what you need for the surgery?”

Knock Out held up what looked like a toolkit. “I’d still prefer a medibay, but I’ll make do.”

“I’m sure we can arrange something functional.”

“Good. You know how I like it.”

A shudder ran over Starscream’s frame at that, rattling up his wings and pulling a soft laugh from Knock Out.

“Oh, loosen up. It’ll make my job a lot easier. I’m still going to put you under for this so it won’t be as hard on your systems. Let’s find a place to settle in and get started.”

Starscream eased himself down in the middle of the clearing and watched as Knock Out hooked in a fuel line and pressed something into it. 

He ran a hand over the jet’s shoulder as his optics began to dim. “Don’t worry. You’ll be up and flying again in no time.”

The next thing Starscream was aware of was Knock Out leaning over him and detaching a lead from his chestplates.

“Welcome back, Starscream.” The medic grinned. “The surgery was a success. I know, I know, no need to thank me. I’m just that good.”

Starscream blinked at him, still hazy. One hand drifted up and the back of a digit brushed over Knock Out’s cheek. His hand settled against it and then Starscream was frantically pushing himself up and pressing his lip plates against Knock Out’s.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still function! Sorry about the long wait, guys. It shouldn't be nearly as long to the next update.
> 
> As always, any comments, questions, or suggestions are very welcome! Enjoy, and I'll see you next chapter!
> 
>  **6/28/2018 update:** This chapter has been edited and reuploaded for better coherence. This one also took the most edits, so it's probably worth a re-read.


	7. Make It Look Good

It barely counted as a kiss. Starscream pulled back the instant he realized what he’d done, to the sound of cooling fans. At first he thought they were his. But when Knock Out straightened up, synthesized an embarrassed cough, and rubbed at the side of his helm, he realized they belonged to the medic.

“You, uh-- took your time with that.”

Primus, he couldn’t even meet Knock Out’s optics. “It’s probably best if we both forget about this,” he blurted out.

“I--” Knock Out glanced away. “Yeah. Maybe so.”

He pushed himself back up, stretched, and reached down to help Starscream up. After a moment’s hesitation, the jet took his hand and let the medic lift him back to his feet. It brought them close-- very close-- and Starscream immediately stepped back to keep himself from making any more stupid decisions. 

“Do you, uh.” Knock Out reset his vocalizer and tried again. “Go ahead, take it for a spin. Test it out.”

“What?” he replied eloquently.

Knock Out floundered for a moment before finally blurting out, “T-cog! Your, uh, T-cog. Scans are good, just need to see it in action and you’re all clear.”

The jet nodded, reluctantly disentangling his fingers from Knock Out’s, and stepped further away, arching his wings. There was a short whine and a quiet click as something settled back into place, and when he pushed himself up, he transformed with minimal snags.

The medic let out a triumphant cheer, grinning like a madmech, all trace of his previous awkwardness gone. “Oh, that’s beautiful! Go on, show me what you can do.”

Starscream shot into the air, climbing higher and faster until his engines whined with the strain of it. He peaked, rolled, and stalled the engines, flipping into a graceful dive as he plummeted back towards the ground. At the last moment he pulled out of it, yanking himself up and dropping back into his root mode to land lightly on his feet.

He vented, wide-opticked and smiling. “How’s that?”

“Well, death drops weren’t really what I had in mind, but… impressive. But don’t push your systems too hard for a while, or you’ll run the risk of damaging them while they integrate. I--”

Something beeped, cutting him off, and he sighed in frustration. “Damn.”

“What is it?”

“I need to get back to the ship. But don’t worry.” He winked. “I’ll prop the door open for you.”

=========

It was a nervous Starscream who slunk onto an emptied bridge and crossed the room to lounge with feigned nonchalance against the main terminal. He figured he had about three minutes before his presence set off at least one alarm and brought Megatron down on him. He fired up the datapad he’d swiped on his way in and uploaded the location of the Autobot “mine” with a quick write-up. His hands shook, clicking quietly against the pad.

Right on schedule, the doors swept open and Megatron stormed into the room, fusion cannon primed, with a bulky blue Seeker on one side and Soundwave on the other. 

Starscream detached himself from the terminal and bowed. “Please pardon my unannounced visit, Lord Megatron. But I have come bearing a peace offering.” He held out the datapad for Megatron to take, helm still lowered.

The cannon dipped down, but remained online as the warlord stormed forward and took the datapad. “Few things of value come without a price, Starscream. So tell me, what is yours?”

Starscream knelt with downcast optics and wings flattened against his back, becoming the very picture of servitude. “I wish only to be a Decepticon once more.”

Megatron’s shadow took a step back and he sounded almost bored. “Dreadwing is my first lieutenant now.”   


He shuttered his optics to avoid glaring. “And I accept that much has changed in my absence. I only wish to serve you, my… one true master.”

The warlord glanced from the datapad to Starscream. “I am almost impressed with this… accomplishment. Know that I will put this information to good use, whatever the outcome.”

“Uh, outcome? Of what, my liege?”

The shadow loomed closer and a very real, substantial hand closed around his neck, hoisting him from the ground like he weighed no more than the datapad Megatron handed off to Dreadwing. A touch more pressure was applied and Starscream felt his intake tubing nearly buckle under it. He heard the tap of his own digits against Megatron’s, fumbling at them, trying to pull them away.

“You’re stupid, Starscream, make no mistake. But even you aren’t stupid enough to betray me to the Autobots, are you?” Megatron gave him a hard shake and roared out the repetition.  _ “Are you?” _

Starscream shook his helm frantically. “No, my lord, I’m not that stupid!” his vocalizer supplied into the resounding silence.

“Then who patched you up?”

He’d anticipated the question. “I did it myself,” he lied. “You know I would never-- go to them-- I was still loyal, I--”

Another squeeze. “Then why attack my ship?”

He spat out panicked static. “I did not know what else to do, master! I must have been half-dead at the time-- a victim of energon deficiency.”

“Tell me…” Megatron’s voice dropped dangerously low. “Why should I welcome back someone whose every waking impulse has been to  _ thwart _ me,  _ undercut _ me,  _ overthrow _ me?” He flung Starscream away from him; the mech went skidding across the floor to land in an undignified heap.

“Not true!”

“Don’t lie to me again, Starscream.” Megatron advanced. “Are you such a fool you honestly think you’ve done nothing wrong?”

Starscream almost physically felt his last scrap of dignity leave him as he scrambled back to his knees and cried out, “No, my lord! Please… give me one more chance. Anything I can do to prove my loyalty-- I will do it.”

“You’re right. See to it that you don’t make those mistakes again.”

“I won’t master, I swear it! Wait-- does this mean--”   


“Yes. You are more valuable beside me than against me.”

He bowed so low his helm nearly touched the floor. “Praise the Allspark! Thank you, master.”

“Infighting has nearly destroyed the Decepticons during your… absence. We must operate as a united front if we are to revive and conquer Cybertron.” A door slid open behind the Seeker and Megatron gave it the briefest glance. “That means each and every one of us,  _ Knock Out. _ You took your time getting here.”

“Apologies, my lord. Won’t happen again.”

“Run a full diagnostic on him. Make sure he hasn’t picked anything up.”

“Consider it done.”

The warlord turned his back on them in time to miss Starscream refusing Knock Out’s assistance in getting back on his feet. “Soundwave, look into this. If the Autobots have indeed found such a rich source of energon, they must not be allowed to keep it.”

=========

Once they were back in the safety of the medibay, Knock Out shooed him towards an examination table. “Here, let me take a look at that tubing. Did he go after anything else?”

Starscream lifted his chin. “No, just that.” He smiled grimly. “He must have been in a good mood.”

Knock Out paused on a cable. “Maybe so. Still… you didn’t deserve that.”

“Mm.”

He finished up the examination in silence. “It looks alright, but you might be sore for a few days while your repair systems work the damage out.”

He nodded, paused, and let his helm fall forward, nearly brushing against Knock Out’s shoulder. He vented heavily. “Tell me I didn’t make a mistake.”

“You didn’t.” He brushed his fingers up Starscream’s arm.  _ “We _ didn’t. We’re doing the right thing. We both know the Decepticons aren’t what they used to be. The war is over, but we haven’t figured that out yet.”

Starscream snorted. “I wasn’t expecting something so profound from someone so vain.”

Knock Out grinned. “There’s my favorite Starscream. Hello, you.” Then he became serious again. “How are you going to tell-- him?”

“I already did.” He smirked, a bit of his old confidence returning. “It would seem dear Soundwave has a bug in his systems. The moment he started scanning the area, it transmitted a warning. One time, self-deleting. He’ll never find it.”

He whistled softly. “How long will it take them to get it?”   


“They should already have it. It’s up to them now.”

“I know it’s a little late for second thoughts, but…” Knock Out hesitated. “Do you trust them?”

The jet snorted. “Of course not, no more than they trust me. But I’m useless to them dead, and they know it.”

The medic started to reply, but stopped sharply and straightened up as a whirring out in the hall signalled Laserbeak’s distant approach. “You’re cleared, Starscream,” he said loudly. “Welcome back.” 

And he winked.

=========

Days later, Megatron furiously summoned Starscream to the bridge. He went, biting back a snicker at the sight of the warlord’s scuffed, dented plating; the clash with the Autobots had clearly not gone well.

The jet made a sweeping bow. “Yes, my lord?”

“Your…  _ information _ proved useful, but incomplete.” Megatron glared. “They were waiting for us.”

Starscream snorted. “Forgive me, my lord, but Dreadwing is not the most subtle of bots. Is it not possible they merely tracked your approach? Explosives are a poor weapon of choice.”

The warlord’s optics narrowed and he rushed to explain. “I merely took the liberty of reading the report when it came in.”

“Is that so…” He paused, clearly waiting for Starscream to speak. When he kept quiet, Megatron continued. “Initiative is a poor trait for you, Starscream. Put aside any thoughts of how you would run operations. I expect you to only follow my orders from now on.”

Another bow, this one not quite so grand. “Of course, my lord.”

“See to it that you do not disappoint me again. You are dismissed.”

As Starscream turned to leave, Soundwave beeped behind him, making him flinch; he hadn’t realized the spy master was even in the room.

Megatron glanced his way. “What is it Soundwave?”

Silence. Soundwave gestured to the screen and Starscream risked a peek over his shoulder. 

“Coordinates,” the warlord murmured. “But for what?”

Starscream sped up.

=========

It was considerably harder to obtain those four data points but Starscream managed all the same, and packed them off to Prime just as Knock Out commed him to accompany him to the bridge. This time, it was the medic who swaggered in at the head of a small detail of bots. Starscream slipped in behind them to wait by the door.

“Lord Megatron, I have assembled the mining detail you requested for the first set of coordinates. Breakdown and I enjoyed previous success retrieving Iacon relics. In memory of my fallen comrade, I intend to do the same again.” With one hand curled into a fist at shoulder height, helm tipped slightly to the side, and one hip canted out, Knock Out looked like the embodiment of casual confidence.

Megatron scowled. “This is a mission, not one of your racing excursions. Stop your preening and move quickly!”   


“I…” He laughed uneasily, straightening up. “I understand, my liege. I will.”

“I know the loss of Breakdown has left you rather vulnerable, if you will, so you will be given the appropriate support.”

A pair of heavily armed vehicons stepped forward. Knock Out eyed them warily. “I was hoping you’d say that, my liege. I would like to take Starscream with me, since he has more experience with such matters. And it would be a good chance for him to prove himself… again.”

Megatron’s facial plates displayed his surprise for a moment before he recovered himself. “Yes, that is acceptable. Starscream!”

He skittered forward and bowed before Megatron. “Yes, my lord?”

“You will accompany Knock Out in retrieving the relic. You will follow his orders for the duration of the mission. See to it that you do not fail me.”

Knock Out smirked. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

=========

“Could we  _ please _ pick up the pace?” Knock Out snapped. “The humidity down here is threatening to corrode my undercarriage!”

“Oh  _ please,” _ Starscream sneered. “Stop your complaining. Your undercarriage is in no danger from this pathetic amount of moisture, especially with the constant maintenance you do.”

“You’re one to talk about constant maintenance, with all your preening and trips in and out of my medibay!”

Behind them, one of the miners pulled a face. Watching your superiors flirt was always awkward, but it was even worse when they didn’t know how painfully obvious it was.

“You’re the expert on that,” the jet shot back. “You care more about that flashy finish of yours more than any other mech I’ve seen!”

“Oh, really?” Knock Out folded his arms. “I don’t see your lustrous paint job dulling any time soon!” 

“There’s a difference between taking a little pride in your appearance and being a vain creature.” Starscream matched his stance. “Not that you’d know."

“Uh, Commander?” one of the miners piped up.

“Yes?” Knock Out and Starscream answered in unison, and immediately glared at each other.

“The relic’s signature looks like it’s coming from that way,” she continued, pointing the opposite direction to the way the pair had been about to head. “About two hundred feet away.”

“Well…” Knock Out waved a hand. “Let’s find it.”

They’d just reached the source of the signature when Starscream received an encoded comm signal, Autobot in origin. 

_ Incoming. _

A moment later, Arcee and Bumblebee came racing around the corner. Knock Out caught Starscream’s optic and nodded minutely. They’d set this up beforehand, discussed everything. All that remained was to execute the plan-- and make it look good.

In some ways, it was harder to fake a fight than actually have one. Especially when one of the bots you were fighting was the one who had the most reservations about trusting you.

“Cut that one a little close, didn’t you?” Starscream hissed as Arcee cut past him

She smirked. “Had to make it look good, didn’t I? Where’s the-- ah!”

Electricity crackled over her frame and dropped her to her knees. Behind her, Knock Out gave his energon prod a spin and tucked it away. “Shock and drop,” he remarked with a smirk.

“Knock Out, what are you doing? That wasn’t part of the plan!”

He reached past Starscream, dislodging the relic from the rocks. “Had to make it look good. Besides, she almost hit you. That wasn’t part of the plan either.” He raised his voice as one of the miners approached. “Relax, Screamer. Everything’s under control.”

Starscream growled, swiping the container from him. “Have a bit of respect, Doctor.”

Knock Out yanked it back and popped it open, retrieving the artifact and tossing the empty container to Starscream. “Now, shall we see precisely what you are and what you do?”

They heard the all-too-familiar sound of metal on metal. In unison they whipped around to see a sweeper train barreling towards them.

Knock Out froze, optics wide and intake hanging slightly open.

“Knock Out,  _ move!” _ Starscream seized his arm and yanked him out of the way, and the train clipped him instead of striking him head-on.

He could feel the medic trembling next to him and clamped a hand down on his shoulder. “Where were you hit?”

“Arm,” Knock Out managed, offering the appendage in question up for inspection. “Starscream, I almost--”

“I know.” He pressed gently against the scrapes. “Doesn’t look too bad. Just a bit of surface damage. It’ll buff right out.”

Behind them, one of the miners lost a bet. The two vehicon guards, considerably less distracted, slammed past Starscream and Knock Out in pursuit of Arcee, who’d scrambled up and gone tearing off after the train.

Starscream pressed the artifact into Knock Out’s hands, muttered “Get that to Bumblebee,” and shot off after the vehicons, transforming about halfway to the corner. He easily overtook them, catching up to Arcee in minutes.

“The tracks end!” she called up to him. “I have to shift them!”

“The two behind us would disagree. Leave the train.”

A frantic edge crept into her voice. “The kids are on it!”

Starscream hesitated for a split second. “You distract the vehicons. I’ll stop that train.”

Arcee skidded to a stop and turned to face the heavily armed pair. Starscream shot past her, transforming and landing by the shift mechanism. He yanked it back; it caught, creaked, and snapped off in his grip. Without hesitation, the jet dropped to the ground, braced himself against the rails, and kicked out at the tracks, forcing them to shift in a screech of metal on metal. The train hurtled past, the proximity blowing him backwards. Was it gathering speed?

He picked himself up and took off after it.

=========

Knock Out stopped first, once he was sure they were far enough away from the miners, and rose back up into his root mode. Bumblebee followed suit and buzzed his way through a question.

_ So what is that thing? _

“No idea. The coordinates didn’t come with descriptions.”

Three rapid beeps, a whir, and a crescendo buzz.  _ Thanks for those. _

“Thank Starscream, not me,” Knock Out murmured as he passed him the artifact.

Bumblebee turned it over and beeped in surprise when it flipped itself up and latched onto his arm.  _ What-- _

They were too focused on the artifact to notice the train. Starscream realized it before they did.

“Knock Out!”

The medic screamed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guys, I am so sorry this took me so long to get up! this chapter just kept kicking my ass--I had to rewrite it a couple of times before I was satisfied with it. 
> 
> If I've made any errors, please feel free to let me know! As always, any comments are greatly appreciated.
> 
> **6/29/2018 update:** This chapter has been edited and reuploaded for better consistency.


	8. Darkest Hour

The medic screamed when the train hit him, clawed hands scrabbling for purchase and feet skidding uselessly on the ground. He slipped, fell, and was pushed some distance before the train finally stopped with a horrendous screeching of metal. Starscream dropped out of his alt mode and sprinted past Arcee and Bumblebee, crashing to his knees at Knock Out’s side. The jet was nearly incoherent, softly calling his name and fluttering his hands over his chassis, unwilling to touch the damage and cause the mech any more pain.

Knock Out groaned and started to push himself up. “There… goes my finish.”

“It-- it’s alright,” Starscream murmured, voice unusually gentle. “We’ll fix it-- you’ll be looking like new in no time.”

Bumblebee buzzed out a quiet question.  _ Starscream, you guys okay? _

His wings hiked up and flared out as he crouched protectively over Knock Out and his vocalizations snapped back to their usual growl. “We’ll be fine, no thanks to _ you!” _

A quiet groan dragged his attention fully back to Knock Out. “It wasn’t his fault, Star… neither of us saw it coming.”

More buzzing, a pair of beeps, and a whir.  _ Is there anything we can do? _

“You can take your prize and be off with it!” Starscream barked. The optics that raked over Knock Out’s battered frame were soft, and the contrast between them and his tone was almost jarring.

“No, wait.” With help, Knock Out hauled himself up. “We need our getaway to look convincing. Mind shooting at us a little more?”

Arcee powered up her blasters with a quiet hum. “You got it.”

Starscream had yet to fully remove himself from Knock Out’s side. “Can you transform?”

In response, and with a painful groan of metal, the grounder dropped into his alt mode. “Looks like it.”

“Starscream.” Arcee lowered her blaster by a fraction. It looked like she was struggling to speak. “Thanks. For your help back there. With the train.”

He couldn’t meet her optics. “It wasn’t enough.”

He pushed off from the ground and launched himself up, flipping seamlessly into his alt mode on the way down. Starscream and Knock Out raced towards what was left of the mining team, blaster shots striking dangerously close behind them.

“Decepticons, retreat!”

=========

Megatron was not in a good mood.

“Four relics, and it seems that Soundwave is the only one who returned with one instead of an excuse!” he raged, pacing back and forth in front of the four teams. “This is disgraceful. All of you, out of my sight, now! And Knock Out, see to it that Soundwave’s visor is fixed… immediately.”

That proved to be difficult. Soundwave accompanied Knock Out to the medibay readily enough, even with Starscream tagging along behind, but any attempts to actually examine the damage were met with Laserbeak. The silent bot refused to be treated until her injuries were seen to. Knock Out gently took the drone from him and placed her on the examination table as Soundwave and Starscream peered over his shoulders. 

The initial scan showed that something had been placed inside Laserbeak, flush against the drone’s internal components. Soundwave’s visor fuzzed static for a moment before displaying a schematic of Laserbeak with the obstruction removed.

Knock Out nodded. “Got it. Let me just-- pop this open and…”

He detached the implant and turned it over. It beeped less-than-innocently at him and he stumbled back with a yelp, tires spinning frantically. “Grenade!”

Starscream caught and diverted him as he tried to drop to the floor, directing him behind the broad expanse of wing that flared up to provide a barrier between medic and munition. “Soundwave! Fetch a containment unit at once.”

The spymaster’s helm snapped up and nodded once. Soundwave wasn’t a mech to hurry, but this time, he crossed the room with a swiftness that had Starscream momentarily convinced that he’d bridged there and back to offer up the unit. The jet dropped the grenade inside and secured the lid just before it blew.

The muffled explosion nearly shook the unit from Starscream’s hands and in the ensuing silence, he could hear Knock Out’s shoulder fins quivering and rattling together. He set the unit down and pushed the medic back towards the examination table. “Close her up, Doctor. And fix Soundwave’s visor, as Lord Megatron commanded.”

It was enough to snap Knock Out out of his daze. He went to work putting Laserbeak back together and handed the drone to Soundwave when she was whole again. Soundwave held Laserbeak against his chest plates and invited her to reattach before he took his place on Knock Out’s examination table.

The comms crackled. “Starscream! Report to me on the bridge immediately.”

Starscream flinched. “Yes, my liege!”

Soundwave tipped his helm and stared at him. His reflection caught and fragmented on the surface of the silent mech’s damaged visor.

“What?” he snapped.

The spymaster, predictably, didn’t respond, merely allowing Knock Out to place a hand under his chin and turn his helm back away from Starscream.

The jet had the distinct impression that Soundwave was still watching him as he left.

The ship’s halls were almost deserted as he made his way toward the bridge. Once he passed a pair of vehicons on patrol, but neither side offered any acknowledgement. Save for the tap of heel struts against the floor, the silence was absolute. 

He palmed open the bridge door. “You asked to see me, Lord Megatron?”

“Ah, Starscream. I have a question for you.” The warlord turned and fixed him with a glare. “How do you suppose it is that the Autobots knew the locations of the relics in time to meet our forces? How is it that they obtained that information?”

He did his best to lock down the part of his processor that shrieked that Megatron knew exactly what he and Knock Out had done and was merely toying with him. He coughed. “I thought you instructed me to put aside any thoughts of running operations.”

“I also  _ instructed _ you to follow my orders,” Megatron growled. “So. Speculate, Starscream.”

A shudder raced up his struts at the sound of his name in the grey mech’s mouth. “I… have no idea, my lord. It was only recently that I was so graciously allowed to return--”

“Right before the Autobots learned the location of every relic. And at the same time we did.”

“And you-- you think I had something to do with it?”

“Your powers of perception are most astonishing,” he replied sardonically. “It would not be the first time you betrayed me, Starscream.”

He fell back a step and a note of desperation crept into his voice. “Is it not possible that Prime escaped with some of the Iacon database? He would be more than capable of decoding the coordinates on his own!”

Megatron seemed to consider it. “Perhaps. But I find it more likely that you are yet again plotting against me. You will never change. Be mindful of your footing, Starscream. If I find that you’ve aided the Autobots… you won’t live to regret it.”

He bowed. “I understand, my liege. But I have learned my lesson. I am loyal only to you.”

“For your sake, I truly hope you are.” Megatron turned his back on him. 

Primus, it would have been so easy to strike… Soundwave was still in the medibay and Dreadwing was off tending to his own wounded pride; they were alone on the bridge. But he knew Megatron was expecting it, would welcome it even, and he stayed his hand and held his glossa.

“You may go.”

Starscream straightened up and left.

=========

When Starscream finally had the chance to return to the medbay, Soundwave’s presence inside it had been replaced with an “on break” sign fixed to the door. He ignored it and stepped in.

“Can’t you read?” Knock Out snapped over the hum of the rotary buffer he had clenched in one fist.

“I can,” he replied. “But I thought you might require some assistance and it would appear that I am right.”

After a moment, he lowered the buffer and turned, smiling. “Well, you did say something about buffing this out, didn’t you? I suppose I can make an exception if you get to work.”

“Yes… remind me not to offer you any more favors.” But Starscream was smiling too, albeit a little uncertainly, when he took the tool. “Was it just surface damage?”

Knock Out leaned back against the examination table as the jet began running the buffer of a patch of scrapes in his chestplates. “Mostly. My finish took the hardest hit, but I still have a few dents to pound out of some  _ interesting _ places and some internal recalibrations to run.” He paused a moment to look Starscream over. “You know, I could get used to you fussing over me like this. Who knew you had such a soft side?”

Starscream smacked his shoulder with the back of his free hand. “If you keep mocking me, I’ll stop.”

“Who said anything about mocking? It’s nice to get a little hands-on appreciation. Perhaps I could return--”

His face burned. Before he could stop himself, he blurted out, “Megatron suspects me.”

“The fa-- what?”

“When the Autobots showed up for all four relics he became suspicious.” He ran the buffer back over a patch of particularly stubborn scrapes and didn’t look up.

Knock Out wrapped his hand around Starscream’s and clicked off the buffer, easing him back so he could see his optics. “What are we going to do?”

He sighed. “I… I don’t know,” he admitted after a long moment.

“Should we--” The medic dropped his voice even lower. “We could go to the Autobots. They might protect us.”

Starscream snorted. “No, we can’t just run.”

“I don’t know, running sounds like a good idea to me!” He shook himself, rattling his shoulder fins. “We haven’t been able to find their base yet. We would be safe there--”

“We have nothing to offer them!” the jet cut in. “All we have is the database, encrypted, which they also have, and which Prime is more than capable of decoding on his own. They might be Autobots, but don’t tell me you think Prime would  _ take us in _ out of the goodness of his spark!”

Knock Out sighed in frustration. “So what do you propose, that we just wait for Megatron to kill us both? He’s worse now, you know. The reason he’s kept you around? Whatever it is, it’s not going to hold. You don’t have any standing with the Decepticons anymore, Starscream. There’s no safety net.”

The medic’s optics looked almost pleading, but Starscream still pulled back and flicked his wings high behind him. “So,” he started coldly. “That’s where you stand?”

“Starscream, all I’m saying is that it’s dangerous--”

“I thought I could trust you,” he spat.

“You  _ can.” _

“Can I?” He glared. “You think I don’t know what he’s capable of? I’ve been dealing with  _ what he’s capable of _ for the past three million years of this damn war!

“I know, but--”   


Starscream held up a hand. “Don’t. It’s too late for second thoughts, Knock Out. You said it yourself, he’ll kill both of us if he finds out what we’ve done. If you want to run to the Autobots, fine. Do it. I won’t go with you.”

“Star--!”

He turned and swept out of the medibay, discarding the buffer on a berth as he passed.

=========

If Megatron truly had caught on to Starscream’s scheming, he was being incredibly quiet about it. Starscream continued to keep the Autobots informed of Decepticon murmurings when he could. Briefly there was talk of a signal from a Decepticon escape pod, but the team sent to retrieve it never returned. Autobot interference was suspected, but Megatron never bothered to send someone to investigate. And then, finally, Soundwave gave notice that he’d decoded another set of coordinates. 

This time, Megatron decided to retrieve it himself, leaving the Nemesis hovering over the mountain while he bridged down with a small mining team.

Knock Out slipped in just before they left, trying to catch Starscream’s eye. The jet resolutely ignored him. Even so, he couldn’t miss the way the medic’s shoulder fins slumped when he turned his back on him and he was hit with a wave of something uncomfortably close to guilt.

“Starscream!”

He actually jumped, whipping around to face Megatron. “Y-yes, my liege?”

“Get over here. You will bridge down with me.” He looked past him to the medic. “Knock Out. Shouldn’t you be in the medibay?”

“Uh… er, yes, my liege. I will, uh, return at once.”

Megatron glanced from Knock Out to Starscream and back with a frown before turning away. Starscream forced down the part of him that screamed again that the warlord  _ knew _ and followed him.

Knock Out left, feeling Soundwave's gaze on him even after the doors slid shut behind him. He shook himself but the uncomfortable sensation stayed, trailing along with him through the halls of the ship and up to the bridge. He slipped in and claimed an unused viewscreen, tuning it to the ground below. As he watched, the drills made short work of the mountainside, quickly unearthing something he couldn't identify. Knock Out sighed and hesitantly commed Starscream. He saw the jet turn aside to answer the comm.

“What?”

“What did you find?”

“A sword,” Starscream muttered. “A very formidable one.”

“So you’ll be coming back soon, right?”

“You sound so  _ worried.” _

_ I am, _ he almost said. Knock Out bit his glossa. “Just watch out. The Autobots might try to crash the party.”

He cut the comms and propped himself up against the console, dropping his helm into his hands with a sigh. “You fragger,” he muttered, and even then he wasn’t sure if he was talking to himself or to Starscream.

Down on the ground, Starscream flared his wings and puffed out his plating for a moment, irritation obvious as he turned back to the mining operation. Knock Out would end up getting both of them terminated with all of his worrying. Another rush of guilt hit him at the thought and he forced it away. He couldn’t afford to deal with it now.

The miners continued chipping away at the rock around the sword until Megatron waved them aside.

“Stand clear!” the warlord commanded. He strode forward, grabbed hold of the hilt, and began to pull. The sword, indifferent to his efforts, didn’t budge.

The jet faked a cough to cover a laugh. Poor, pitiful Megatron, to be bested by a mere rock!

Megatron lost patience with tugging at the sword and stepped back, swinging his fusion cannon into position. The sharp blast did nothing but raise a cloud of dust that cleared to reveal an undamaged sword still firmly planted in the rock. Megatron reared back.

“We will take the sword with us if we have to take the whole mountain! Prime must not be allowed to obtain it!”

Starscream made his careful approach, moving swiftly around the miners. “If I may, my liege… what is it?”

“The Star Saber, a powerful relic of the Primes.” Megatron growled his frustration. “As I suspected, it can only be moved by the hand of a Prime.”

The jet shrugged. “What a pity we don’t have one.”

“Indeed… but we can at least prevent Optimus Prime from getting his hands on it.”

Just as the chunk of rock containing the sword came loose from the base of the mountain, they heard the hum of engines over the sound of the drills. Megatron whipped around, fusion cannon coming online, and Starscream ducked out of his way as Prime and his team rose up into their root modes.

“Megatron, stop!”

“You’re too late, Prime! The Star Saber is already mine.”

“That remains to be seen.”

Starscream took to the sky to cover the transport of the rock, leaving Megatron and Optimus to clash far below and swearing to himself that he didn’t care.

And then a truck shot past him, driving up what remained of the mountain. Optimus had broken away and gone straight for the sword. Starscream sighed and started shooting. He actually hit him, once or twice, but it wasn’t enough to prevent him from reaching the Star Saber. In his grip, it slid from its rocky sheath without resistance. Megatron roared his outrage and assumed his own alt mode, rising rapidly to Starscream’s level and firing on the Autobot.

Prime lost his grip, and fell. Megatron continued on, landing on the bow of the Nemesis and heading straight for the bridge, with Starscream following close on his heels.

Megatron all but kicked the door open, sending Knock Out scurrying for cover and Starscream instinctively rushing for the medic. “Drop the mountain on him!”

The clamps released and the massive stone fell, but Optimus didn’t move out of the way.

“What is he--”

Prime heaved the sword up, cleaving through the boulder. The two halves slowed and clattered to a stop behind him.

Megatron slammed a fist against the console, crumpling it. “No!”

Taking the hilt in both hands, Prime whipped himself around, launching a wave of energy from the blade. The warship shook when the wave hit, throwing Starscream against Knock Out and nearly sending both of them to the ground. Soundwave remained remarkably unfazed, but Megatron was forced to grab hold of a comm station to keep his balance. He righted himself, gazing down upon the Prime below, who had lowered the Star Saber back to his side. Behind him, Starscream and Knock Out shared a look.

Megatron lifted his helm and turned, glaring out over the bridge. “We Decepticons now face our darkest hour.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm starting to have a lot of trouble writing this fic (if you hadn't noticed from the ridiculously long time between updates) and I'm still not quite sure why. But rest assured, I'm not giving up on this! It'll just take a bit longer than I thought it would.
> 
> That's all from me, but I hope you had a good New Years' and that you enjoyed this chapter! As always, any comments are greatly appreciated.
> 
> **6/29/2018 update:** This chapter has been edited and reuploaded for better consistency.


	9. Breaking In, Breaking Out

Dreadwing stepped forward and saluted. “Forgive me, Lord Megatron. While I do not question the wisdom of our tactical retreat, know that I am fully prepared to lead the troops in a counterattack against the Autobots.”

“Counterattack?” Megatron glared. “Perhaps you failed to notice Optimus Prime cleave an entire mountain with a single blow. With the Star Saber in his possession, my enemy can obliterate us all with a wave of his hand! I must find a way to tip the balance of power back in our favor.”

From the relative obscurity of their viewscreen console, Starscream side-eyed Knock Out. The medic briefly returned it.

Dreadwing continued, undaunted. “Do we not also possess a powerful relic of the ancients?”

“Indeed,” the warlord admitted. “The Forge of Solus Prime. But it is useless, except in the hand of a Prime.” Then he paused. A slow smirk crawled its way across his face. “But… I might wield that power, if I were to control such a hand! Dreadwing, with me. I have a plan.”

The broad Seeker fell into step behind him as he swept out of the room. Starscream realized belatedly that Knock Out had been plucking at his wrist, trying to draw his attention; he ceased when Megatron drew close. 

The warlord paused. “Knock Out.”

The medic pulled himself to attention. “My liege?”

“Did I not instruct you to return to the medibay? Why are you here?”

“I, uh…” He laughed nervously. “I just… didn’t want to miss any of the action! Forgive me, Lord Megatron.”

Megatron looked him over for a long moment and eventually dipped his helm. “Do not neglect your duties in the future, Doctor.” 

“Of course now. I’ll… return now.”

He strode off of the bridge after Megatron, pinging Starscream as he went. Reluctantly, the jet followed. Once they were clear of the warlord, Knock Out tugged him aside.

“Can we talk?” the grounder muttered.

“No.” Starscream yanked his arm away.

“Right, not  _ here, _ but--” Knock Out sighed. “Look, it wouldn’t kill you to meet me in the medibay later. So would you just do it? Don’t make me make it official.”

Starscream folded his arms and refused to meet Knock Out’s optics. “If it keeps you quiet, fine.”

But the medic wasn’t done. “In a few hours, then?”

“Yes! Fine!” he snapped. “In a few hours!”

The jet spun on his heel and stalked away, leaving Knock Out lingering awkwardly by the door.

=========

The medibay was almost too clean when Starscream finally showed up, late, after multiple calls from the medic. Every surface had been scrubbed until it shone and every tool and piece of equipment was neatly tucked away-- nothing was out of place.

It felt surprisingly empty; Knock Out had always run a neat ship, so to speak, but this went beyond that. The medic’s back was to him when he entered, and Starscream reset his vocalizer with an awkward cough. 

Finally Knock Out glanced up. “Finally decided to turn up, did you?”

“You wanted to talk?”

“Yeah.” He turned. “Can we-- can we clear the air?”

“I don’t know, can we? You made your position rather clear the last time we spoke.”

“Primus, you’re difficult…” Knock Out sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Would you just listen to me? I’m not against you. Whatever it is you think I’m trying to do here, I’m not doing it.”

Starscream narrowed his optics. “Go on.”

“You were right, it  _ is _ too late for second thoughts. And I’m not having them. But I am worried. You’re acting like you’re the only person in this. But you went to the Autobots for help, and you have  _ me.” _ The grounder leaned in, trying to catch his eye. “You’re not alone.”

_ I am, _ he almost said. He held his glossa and sighed. He’d not intended to capitulate, but he was finding it difficult to remain irritated. It felt like Knock Out’s proximity was disrupting his gyros, throwing off his balance and making it hard to think. “Perhaps I was… too harsh.”

“It’s a start.” Knock Out straightened up. “I’ll take it. But I still think we should consider going to the Autobots.”

“And  _ I  _ still think we would be foolish to do so without something to offer them.”

“Then let’s see about bringing our own housewarming present, shall we?” Knock Out held out his hand. “What do you say? Partners?”

After a moment’s hesitation, Starscream took it. “Partners.”

The medic’s hand lingered a touch longer than it needed to before he changed the subject. “So. Where do you think Megatron and his prized bluebird are headed this time?”

The jet made an inelegant snorting noise, trying to cover his relief. “To retrieve the hand of a Prime, I’d imagine.”

“Ugh.” Knock Out shook himself. “There’s something that’s just not right about that.”

“He tried to raise an army of the undead on Cybertron,” Starscream observed. “This isn’t so different.”

“Says  _ you. _ You won’t have to attach it!”

_ “Attach  _ it?”

“How else do you think he’s going to use it?”

Starscream shuddered. “All this trouble for some relic… he really is afraid of it.”

“What, of the Star Saber? Wouldn’t you be?”

“It’s not my fight.”

Knock Out smirked. “So you are.”

“I never said that!”

He started to respond, but before he could, his commlink beeped and cut him off. He paused to let the message scroll across his HUD and heaved a theatrical sigh.

His wings flicked. “Good news, Doctor?”

“Not for me. Lord Megatron is on his way back-- with a hand of a Prime.”

Starscream hurriedly made to leave as Knock Out made a disgusted noise behind him.

“Oh, I just had a thought. Do you-- do you think it’s  _ just _ the hand, or--”

The jet glanced over his shoulder as he reached the door. “I think it’s your problem now.”

=========

Days later, Megatron summoned both Starscream and Knock Out to the bridge. They arrived at the same time and shared a questioning look before Knock Out stepped back and waved the jet through first.

The warlord stood with his back to them, hands clasped behind his back. The new arm was jarringly mismatched with the rest of his frame, from its irregular construction to its paint scheme. Its relative garishness made the whole situation that much more obscene. He didn’t seem to notice their arrival at first, and kept speaking to Soundwave, whose shoulders seemed far stiffer than usual, betraying a hint of irritation. 

“You should have seen Optimus Prime's face when his precious Star Saber shattered like glass and, with it his dreams of an Autobot victory,” Megatron remarked. “Granted, Optimus will be more determined than ever to discover the locations of the remaining Iacon entries before we can.”

Soundwave beeped quietly and inclined his helm, tapping one delicate finger against the console screen. There, blinking calmly, was a string of numbers.

“Ah, very good. I see you have decoded the next set of coordinates.”

The spymaster gave no indication he had heard and turned fully back to his console.

Knock Out swaggered forward. “Ah, way to step things up, Soundwave! I do hope  _ this _ Iacon relic is something less sacred and more profane, like an electro-disruptor cannon. We could use one of those.”

Megatron ignored him. “Dreadwing, report to the bridge immediately.”

He cut back in smoothly. “Please, my lord, allow me the honor of retrieving the relic for you.”

“I’m surprised you would risk your finish again so soon after your…  _ accident.” _ Megatron glared over his shoulder and Knock Out winced, not entirely from the powerful gaze. The warlord continued. “Nonetheless, I remain unconvinced that you are the best choice for the task since you  _ failed  _ to secure the phase shifter.”

“Dreadwing reached the relic before the Autobots and he  _ still _ failed, while Starscream and I arrived to find them already there, my liege! What makes him the better choice?” Knock Out countered. “We lacked the proper tools. But with Starscream’s invaluable assistance and a little something from Soundwave-- I can’t imagine he’ll mind if I borrow it, not since he’s hard at work with the decoding-- I’m confident we’ll succeed.”

Finally Megatron turned. “Fine. You have one last chance, Knock Out. Don’t you dare fail me.”

Knock Out smirked and bowed. “I wouldn’t dream of it, my liege. We’ll be back-- with the relic.”

“You misunderstand me. You will retrieve the relic-- alone.”

“But Starscream--”

“Will remain here,” the warlord growled. “I would hate to see you distracted by other concerns. Now go.”

“I-- understand, my liege. Of course.”

He scurried off the bridge. Starscream hesitated, caught between his desire to retreat and his unwillingness to irritate Megatron, but when the warlord still did not acknowledge his presence, he ducked out of the room, edging around a glaring Dreadwing when he entered.

Knock Out was waiting for him in the hallway. “What do you think he’s up to?”

“No idea,” he muttered. “But be careful and expect the worst.”

He made a face. “Isn’t that a little cynical?”

“It isn’t cynical if it keeps you alive.” He paused, biting at a line of mesh on the inside of his lip. 

The grounder caught the motion and tipped his helm. “Give me a kiss for good luck?”

He snorted, faceplates warming. “Ridiculous human custom.”

“So does that mean I don’t get one?”

Starscream gave his fender a little push. “Get out of here.”

=========

Knock Out slid to a stop and rose up into his root mode, refastening the resonance blaster to his arm. The clearing was deserted and a quick scan turned up nothing in the area, save for the calm blinking of the relic’s locator beacon. He sighed and lowered the blaster. It seemed almost a shame not to use it.

“Well…” he muttered. His lowered voice was swallowed by the rock around him. “If it’s buried…”

He flicked the resonance blaster back up and aimed it at the wall covering the relic. The weapon activated with a dull screech and Knock Out stumbled back a step. Under the onslaught, cracks spiderwebbed across the surface of the rock and after another moment the whole thing began to crumble.

“Who knew that sound waves could be such a--” He smirked. “Knockout?”

He could almost  _ hear _ Starscream groaning in irritation at the joke. The thought buoyed him.

“Hm… how low can it go?” He angled the blaster towards the ground. “Subwoofer… or depth charge?”

The resulting shock wave nearly knocked him over.

After that, the novelty of playing to an imaginary audience quickly wore off. Knock Out sighed and went to sift the relic out of the rubble. He didn’t want to admit it, but he knew it was a symptom of a larger problem. Banter wasn’t going to solve anything and pretending like nothing had happened was no better. Sure they’d talked, but he still wasn’t sure they were on the same page. Even though Starscream seemed not to care, Knock Out couldn’t do anything  _ but _ care, about him, about actually surviving this stupid scheme. 

Knock Out stopped digging and propped himself up on his arm against the rock.

_ Go look for him, _ Breakdown had said. Well, he’d done that and now he was in this mess. So what now? He couldn’t keep racing after him forever. Something had to change or they’d both end up terminated. 

He pushed himself back up and yanked the relic, a fancy bit of metal with no immediately discernible purpose, out of its storage pod and transformed around it, dropping it into his backseat before speeding off towards his rendezvous point. 

=========

Dreadwing’s failure to retrieve the next relic brough Knock Out some amusement, but the resulting irritation it brought Megatron was far more concerning. The fact there there was but one entry remaining in the Iacon database did not help, and neither did the fact that they had no idea what the relic in their possession did. Knock Out had poked and prodded at the thing, searching for any kind of response, but even-- and he was embarrassed to admit it-- banging the relic off of a table did nothing but create a brief shower of sparks.

Just when it seemed the warlord’s anger could grow no more, Soundwave finally decoded the last entry. As usual, Megatron saw fit to tell Knock Out only the barest of information, that he would need to prepare the medibay for an extraction. And so he’d waited, while Soundwave had been dispatched to collect the final container.

Now the medibay felt overly crowded. Soundwave left as soon as he deposited the Autobot called Smokescreen on one of the medberths, but Megatron’s restlessness pushed up against the room’s other occupants like he was trying to force them out of the space. He pivoted and glared at Knock Out.

“Get him online!”

The medic jolted forward and hurried over to Smokescreen. “Wakey, wakey!” He tapped at the Autobot’s shoulder until he drew his attention. “And if you’re looking for your phase shifter… finders keepers.”

“Enough prattle, Knock Out.” Megatron shoved the medic out of the way, looming over Smokescreen. “Give me the final Iacon relic. Now.”

The sports car made a face. “Yeah, can’t really help you, chief! That’s the only one I was packing. You’ve got the wrong guy, Optimus is the only one who can decode the Iacon database.”

“Ah, but you misunderstand. The final entry  _ has _ been decoded-- by us!”

“Well-- by Soundwave,” Knock Out cut in.

Megatron glared at him and continued. “And according to our findings, it would appear I do indeed have the ‘right guy.’”

“The question is…” The medic booted up a scanner and began to run it over Smokescreen’s frame. His hands shook. “What are you  _ still _ packing?” The scan beeped its completion and he laughed. “Why, hidden treasure, of course!”

“Get it out of him,” Megatron snapped. “Swiftly.”

Knock Out heaved a theatrical sigh and swapped a hand for a circular saw with a quick whir of transformation. “I do  _ so _ resent a finish flashier than my own.” He hovered the saw over Smokescreen’s chassis, slowly bringing it closer and closer as the Autobot tried to wriggle out of the restraints.

Just before the saw touched metal he pulled back with a wicked grin. “Ha! Made you squirm.” He pressed a pair of fingers against the phase shifter mounted on his arm to activate it and made a show of sticking his hand through his arm.  _ “Trippy.” _ He stamped a foot against the floor. “And intuitive. Proper grounding ensures its user won’t fall through the floor--”

“I said  _ swiftly!” _ Megatron barked, and Knock Out flinched so hard he almost knocked the phase shifter loose.

“Of course, my liege.” He shoved his hand through Smokescreen’s plating and fished around, searching for something that didn’t belong. 

Smokescreen lurched in his restraints. “Hey, get your stinkin’ hand out of my gears!”

“Almost… ah, there we are!” He pulled out the key and held it up triumphantly.

Megatron snatched it from him and shoved it in front of Smokescreen’s face. “What are these for?”

“You don’t know?” He forced a laugh. “Oh, man, I really don’t want to ruin your day, but I don’t know either. I’m just the rookie, okay? They don’t tell me anything.”

“I think you’re lying to me.”

“Oh, yeah? Well, tough! I’m not! I don’t know what they do!”

Knock Out sighed. “Pity this little gadget won’t allow me to just reach into his brain pan and pluck out the information.”

Megatron didn’t break his gaze. “Fortunately we possess a device that can. Patch in and find the information. He knows more than he’s saying.”

The medic flinched. “Me, my liege?”

“Who else?” He gestured between Autobot and Decepticon. “Now.”

“Alright…” Reluctantly he fetched the probe and plugged himself in, acutely aware of the warlord looming over both of them. He soon jerked himself back out of Smokescreen’s head and sat up.

“Well?”

Wearily Knock Out relayed the information he’d fished out.

“The power to remake Cybertron as I see fit…” Megatron grinned. It wasn’t pleasant. “I will pry the other two keys from Optimus Prime’s lifeless fingers! We must find the exact location of the Autobot base.” He turned and began to leave. “Patch back in and tear apart his mind, if you must.”

“Again?”

“Do you really think I would entrust you to see this key safely to the vault containing the other one?” He paused in the doorway. “I expect to have results by the time I return.”

Knock Out made a slight bow. “Of course, my liege.” He turned back to Smokescreen. “Once more, into the brain pan…”

Smokescreen wriggled furiously. “No! Not again! S-stay out of my head!”

“Now, now.” He glanced over his shoulder, checking that the door was fully closed. “I’m not going back in.”

“You cherry plated-- wait, what? What’s going on?”

“Keep your plating on! Do you want to get out of here or not?”

Smokescreen eyed him. “Are you helping me?”

“I’m trying to, if you’ll pipe down.” Knock Out adjusted the phase shifter. “Now, if you were going to try to escape, how would you do it?"

“You’re bugged, you know that?” he shot back. “I… I’d wait for you to start to plug in and then go for the shifter so I could get a hand free. Then I’d break myself out from there.”

“Mm-hm, so like this?” The medic leaned over him, phase shifter dangerously close to Smokescreen’s fingertips. He immediately grabbed for it and yanked his hand through the restraints.

“Then I’d shove you off--” Smokescreen grunted as he tried to push Knock Out away at an odd angle; Knock Out accommodated him by staggering back anyway. “And do this!” He forced the rest of the restraints open and lunged forward, grabbing for the phase shifter.

“We-- watch the paint job!” Knock Out yelped. 

“Sorry!”

“Anyway, we fight, you steal the phase shifter…” He disconnected it and clipped it to Smokescreen. “And you run. By the way, if you hang a right once you’re through the wall, you’ll find the vault faster.”

Smokescreen jerked away, tugging Knock Out after him. The medic wound up embedded up to the elbow in the wall, fingers grasping desperately for any hint of Autobot plating.

“Hey!”

The rookie stepped halfway back through the wall, carefully avoiding contact with him. “Hey, I’ve gotta cover my tracks, right? Plus I wanted to ask you something. Why are you helping me?”

Knock Out tugged ineffectually at his arm. “Call it-- ugh!-- call it a favor for a friend. Now if you’re not going to release me, get out of here before I change my mind!”

Smokescreen shot him a pair of fingerguns as he stepped out through the wall. “You got it!”

By the time Knock Out’s calls for help roused someone, Smokescreen was long gone, as he knew he would be. It was hard to keep pace with someone who could walk through walls.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> been a while, hasn't it? this story is now officially active and moving forward again. thank you so much for your patience!
> 
> as always, feel free to point out any errors, and thanks for reading!


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